By Kristen Dahlgren and Erica Ayisi, NBC News

What started out as a modest fundraising event held in a Santa Barbara, Calif., parking lot has turned into a life-changing moment for Jennifer Vasilakos, thanks to a chance meeting with Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner. 

It all began in a parking lot in July of last year. Vasilakos, 42, set up a table near her hometown's annual Santa Barbara French Festival to raise money for stem cell treatment, displaying signs and flyers that explained her cause. She also brought a small moneybox to stash cash made from parking cars for festival-goers.

Equipped with sunglasses, a water bottle and coffee, Vasilakos was prepared to spend the day raising awareness and telling people her personal story – that she was diagnosed with acute renal failure in 2011 and had received dialysis three times a day, three times a week. It was a grueling regimen that she would endure the rest of her life. A kidney transplant wasn’t an option; she had been rejected as a candidate because of a previous bout with cancer.

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Vasilakos, a Reiki teacher and herbalist, decided her only option was to save up for stem cell treatment – a costly procedure that is not performed in the United States.

But as the day wore on, her moneybox largely remained empty. The festival, she said, “was completely dead.”

That's when a lost driver in a “small little car” drove up, looking for directions. Jennifer chatted him up.

“The man rolls down the window, has a piece of paper in his hand and he’s looking for a local business,” she recalled. “I provide him instructions and because I am fundraising that day to get my stem cell treatment, I hand him my flyer.”

The man gave her $50.

About an hour later, the driver returned, looked her in the eye and asked if she was the woman in the flyer raising money for stem cell treatment. She confirmed that she was.

The man replied, “I’m Ty Warner, and I’d like to help you with this and take care of it for you.”

Yes, that Ty Warner – of Ty Inc., the billionaire brain behind the Beanie Babies collectibles craze. Vasilakos said she recognized his name but had no idea he would ultimately make a huge donation.

“I was hoping to raise a few hundred dollars that day by the generosity of my community for the stem cell treatment that I needed to get,” she said. “I had no idea I would meet Ty Warner that day.”

On her blog, Vasilakos wrote: “I listened as he repeated over and over that he was going to help me. That my fundraising was done.  That I didn’t need to worry any longer. He said he would send a check after he returned to his offices during the week.”

Several days after they met, Vasilakos received a $20,000 check from Warner along with a handwritten note. She said she hopes it “was a little birdy in his ear that said, ‘You should help this woman.’”

Vasilakos had the stem cell treatment last year in Trinidad. 

Warner, according to a prepared statement, was enlightened by their chance encounter.

"After I serendipitously met Jennifer, I further educated myself on her stem cell needs. I was shocked that this particular type of treatment wasn't available to her in the U.S.," Warner said. "My hope is that we can bring this lifesaving treatment to the forefront so that it can become more readily available and provide alternatives for people like Jennifer."

Vasilakos underwent the treatment in September 2012 and now, after months of recovery, she says she feels great. 

"The day the length of my dialysis treatment was reduced to two and half hours per treatment was an exciting day. I regained three hours of freedom per month! My blood pressure has dropped down to normal with lower and lower levels of medication," she wrote recently on her blog. "The biggest change is how amazing I feel, and I am brimming with energy. My immune system has become resilient, and I can feel the difference in my body." 

 

 

 

 

By Kevin Tibbles, NBC News correspondent

RUSHVILLE, Illinois -- For more than half a century in the rural town of Rushville, Ill., the doctor has been in. 

Dr. Russell Dohner, at 87 years old, still serves this community of 3,192 people about a four-hour drive southwest of Chicago.

In fact, folks here say he’s likely assisted in the births of more babies than there are people in living Rushville.

“They consider me an old country doctor; and there’s nothing wrong with that,” said Dohner as we sat in the back of his storefront clinic on the main square in town.

The good doctor first opened his doors here in 1955 and he has been treating anyone and everyone who’s come through the front door ever since. 

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There’s still an old rotary phone on the desk where his longtime nurse Rose greets those who come to sit in the waiting room with its faded Rockwell prints and Christmas cards from patients past.

“I come here every day for a while,” Dohner said. “Even on Sundays I come here before I go to church.”

“Seven days a week?” I asked.

“Yes, I always come here,” he replied. 

Both Dohner and Rose do admit, however, they’re not too happy about church services being moved ahead to 9:30 a.m. as it cuts down on his clinic time.

In a high-tech world of machines and gizmos a visit to Dohner’s office is a slice of nostalgia. Patient records are still kept on little cards which, in turn, are kept in a dozen or so filing cabinets along the wall.

Along with the rotary phone there’s also an old electric typewriter. No cell phone. No fax.

If the people of Rushville need him, they’ll know where to find him. On Tuesdays, for example, he’ll be at his Rotary Club meeting.

“Where is your computer?” I inquired.

“Far, far away,” came the reply. “Never had one.”

We both laugh.

There is something else a little old fashioned about the way medicine is practiced here: the fee.

Dohner charges just $5 a visit. That’s it. 

He admits he raised the price from the original $2 a few years ago and says he sees no reason to change it again.

“I always felt it was alright to just charge $5.”

He adds it comes in helpful to the many people in town who may not have insurance.

Sometimes those who are unable to pay his fee have arrived with fresh baked cookies.

“He just wants to help people and be here in case they need him,” said Lynn Stambaugh, the administrator at the local hospital. And she should know, as Dohner delivered her and all her siblings as well. 

And should you ever have a medical emergency, the doctor is prepared for that as well.

“Just come around the back door,” he said.

It may only cost $5 but in this town, surrounded this time of year by chest-high fields of corn, it is worth so much more.

Will Turner, 94, has never had an emergency room experience quite like this.

At Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, he found thick mattresses to prevent bedsores, skid-proof floors, and curtains designed to produce less noise. It’s only a few examples of the features designed specifically for senior citizens. 

“This is very far from the tumultuous feeling you have in other emergency rooms,” Turner said. “The others, there’s clatter going on, there’s litter, and people walk by who never look in your direction to see if you need something. This is different.”

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, individuals 65 years and older typically make up nearly 25 percent of adult emergency room visits. The creation of the geriatric centered emergency department, or geri-ed, at Mount Sinai Hospital represents a shift towards catering to the health needs of the growing aging population. 

Mount Sinai’s geri-ed follows the opening of a similar one at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., three years ago. More than 50 such departments will be opening in the health care system’s hospitals from New Jersey to California, according to Dr. Mark Rosenberg, the chief of geriatric emergency medicine at St. Joseph's.  Rosenberg, who also serves as chairman of the American College of Emergency Medicine's (ACEP) geriatric section, has assisted many efforts to build geriatric emergency departments, from hospital systems to emergency medicine management groups.

“I predict that hundreds of ED’s will move in this direction over the next several years,” Rosenberg said.

Since the creation of Mount Sinai’s unit on Feb. 17, older patients coming to the general emergency room are moved to the geri-ed, as long as they meet a certain number of clinical criteria, such as ability to remember their names or not needing resuscitation. In each of the eight bedrooms and six exam rooms, patients experience a quieter and calmer setting where they can wait and receive care from professionals specially trained in elderly care.

Dr. Kevin Baumlin, the vice chairman of emergency medicine at Mount Sinai, received inspiration for this facility from personal experience, when his grandmother broke her pelvis and was sent to a regular emergency room.

“It was really frustrating that no one seemed to be paying attention to her, that she was kind of lost in the shuffle,” he said.

Baumlin noticed the discrepancy – pediatric emergency departments have bright primary colors, toys, and child specialists tailored towards younger patients, but nothing similar existed for the elderly, who have equally specific needs.

The geriatric emergency department Baumlin spearheaded was designed with the intention of creating a safer and calmer atmosphere for the older demographic, he said. An example of the attention to detail is highlighted by the installation of fake skylights in the unit. Elderly patients, especially if they have dementia, tend to become confused in general emergency rooms that are brightly lit 24 hours a day. The Mount Sinai geri-ed is outfitted with skylights that tell elderly brains what time of day it is, and helps them adjust their body’s sleep and wake patterns.

A unique feature of the geri-ed is what Baumlin calls the geriPad – iPads that allow the patient and nurse to videochat for clinical needs. Requesting juice or food is as easy as a touch of a button on the screen.

Response to the new unit has been positive, and patient satisfaction ratings have been very high.

Turner is one of those satisfied customers. “I’m overwhelmed at the interest, the warmth and the service at this emergency room,” he said. “This is an extraordinary experience.”

Michelle Melnick contributed to this report.