Recovered COVID Patient Gifts Painting To St. Joseph's Hospital-North

LUTZ, FL — A beautiful painting is displayed prominently in a team member common area on a floor of St. Joseph’s Hospital-North in Lutz. The painting is a spring nature scene with trees, flowers and a small footbridge over a brook.

Looking closely, there is a small, gold plate attached beneath the painting inscribed with these words: “A Bridge to Recovery. To staff on 4 West for saving my life."

The painting was done by COVID survivor Robert Sakoff as a gift to the unit. Sakoff was admitted to the hospital for COVID on Feb. 7 and discharged 16 days later on Feb. 23.

“I feel 120 percent,” said Sakoff, 74, originally from New York but now living in Northdale. “My lungs are telling me otherwise but from where I’ve been, my recovery has been amazing.”

He described his battle with COVID during his early days in the hospital as being serious and “on the brink.” But as he began recovering from COVID and feeling better while in his room, he started the painting.

He dabbles in painting as a hobby. Mary, his wife, brought his painting supplies to the hospital entrance where team members brought the supplies to his room.

“It was kind of boring being by yourself,” he said. “It was lonely. You couldn’t have family or visitors, so I started the project of this painting. Instead of sitting in bed and watching TV all day, I took my time and worked on it. It took hours in the day, and it also helped my recovery because mentally it helped me focus also.”

He eventually completed the painting of the park scene with the bridge after he was discharged.

Sakoff said people are shocked to learn that he did the picture by paint by numbers.

“When I tell them that, they go ‘Really?’” he said. “It’s not the old-school paint by numbers anymore. It’s a quite different way of doing paint by numbers than in the past.”

He said he was pleased the way the painting turned out and gave it to the hospital to say thanks to the floor.

“I dedicated the painting to the people on 4 West” Sakoff said. “The care that I received there was amazing. The people were amazing. They’re friendly, they’re efficient. In my gratitude, I finished the painting and wanted them to have it. The painting was a park scene with a bridge so I titled it ‘A Bridge to Recovery.’”

The impression left on him about St. Joseph’s Hospital-North was stellar. He said the experience was “sort of like being on a private vacation except without visitors.” He cited quality food and listening to the classical music on his room’s Amazon Alexa entertainment device as being pleasant amenities.

Mary Sakoff was also impressed that the security guards knew her by name each time she stopped at the entrance to drop off items for him. Although he couldn’t have visitors, he was able to Facetime with his family using his own Ipad.

“The entire staff, the day nurses, the night nurses, everyone there was diligent that worked to help my recovery," Sakoff said. "Everyone had a positive attitude. I couldn’t ask for more than what they did for me. They all helped me get back to where I am today."