Lori Murphy

Lori Murphy spent 15 years at West Park as an Occupational Therapist (OT), working across the hospital in a number of units. Now retired and embarking on a new career as a gemmologist, she continues to support West Park as a monthly donor and has made provisions for a legacy gift.

Murphy enjoyed her work as an OT, “I loved the creativity of it, and the ability to help people enhance their quality of life by increasing and improving their functional status. And I really enjoyed being part of a team to help patients.”

One of her most treasured memories was her first complex discharge from Chronic Assisted Ventilatory Care. A full year in the planning, the discharge involved many teams from across—and outside—the hospital coming together to accomplish the goal. She says it showed “the strength the patient had, the strength of our teamwork, and how everyone went above and beyond to get this patient safely home.”

Even while accomplishing so much at West Park, Murphy wanted to do more.

“I was giving as an OT, giving everything I could doing that, but I wanted to give more. I’m just one person, but I thought if I gave to something larger, then my money would do more than I could do individually.”

And so, beginning in 2007, she signed up for payroll giving as part of West Park’s Family Campaign for staff and physicians, and continued with monthly giving after retiring in January 2020.

While the pandemic put a temporary halt to her post retirement plans in the small southwestern Ontario town she and her partner relocated to, Murphy has now embarked on her second career. She had been training part-time in gemmology while working as an OT, and she’s now putting the training to good use—working a few days a week at a local jewelry store. She also volunteers at her community’s hospice, her interest in which stems from her work on West Park’s Supportive and Palliative Care Committee.

It was during retirement that she discovered another way she could support West Park. Her lawyer told her that she could list multiple beneficiaries on her life insurance; meaning that she could ensure her partner would be provided for, and she could also designate a percentage of the insurance to go to a charity or institution. She immediately knew she wanted to support West Park.

“I realized I could do both. I made sure everyone is taken care of and I can support West Park,” says Murphy. And she was surprised at the ease and simplicity of the process. “You can arrange to make a charity or individual—or both—the beneficiary of your policy outside of your Will.”

Murphy says she is thrilled about the new hospital building, and the impact her gifts have on it, “I was there to celebrate 100 years at West Park [in 2004], and it’s wonderful to think there might be another 100 years and that I was part of that.”

This story originally appeared in the Winter 2023 issue of the Giving Lives Back newsletter. Click here to read the full issue.