Outreach to immigrants living near the Squirrel Hill Health Center has made a dramatic difference in the lives of Olga and Leonid Steinberg.

Both have journeyed far in the past 15 years. After moving from Russia to Israel in 1991 and from Israel to Pittsburgh on Oct. 20, 2005, the Steinbergs have established themselves as working classical musicians. Mrs. Steinberg, 54, is a pianist and teacher at Point Park University, and Mr. Steinberg, 64, is a violinist who had been with the Bolshoi Ballet Orchestra.

They've been playing music together for 30 years.

Their path to Pittsburgh was aided by their son, Dmitri, 29, assistant professor of music and coordinator of piano at Virginia Commonwealth University, who had come to the United States before them.

"He was the most important reason for coming to the United States. We could see him only one week a year," Mr. Steinberg said, adding that his son did everything from organizing their immigration documents to buying a house for them in Greenfield.

They were settling into their Pittsburgh life when they realized Leonid's mother, Larissa, then 93, had to come from Israel to join them.

"It was impossible to keep her in Israel," he said. "She was completely alone."

A friend accompanied her on her flight in April. But soon her health deteriorated and the Steinbergs brought her in September to the Squirrel Hill Health Center, to see Dr. Andrea Fox.

Dr. Fox brought medical assistant Rita Bidrat, also a Russian-Israeli immigrant, into the room to help interpret for the Steinbergs, who had no health insurance but were able to receive care at the federally qualified health center.

Larissa Steinberg was in the last stages of heart disease.

"Her legs were swollen, she was a little confused, but pretty good," Mrs. Bidrat said. "But the next visit, she was worse."

Dr. Fox suggested hospice care from Sivitz Jewish Hospice. Mrs. Bidrat said she had to explain to a tearful Olga Steinberg that no, her mother-in-law would not be taken out of their home.

"This was some kind of miracle," Mr. Steinberg said. "My mother got wonderful attention. Dr. Fox came to our home, to wrap my mother's legs. Other people from hospice came. They wrapped her legs, they washed her, changed her clothes. They did everything that needed to be done."

Mr. Steinberg praised the help they received, from their first visit with Mrs. Bidrat and Dr. Fox, to the final arrangements by the hospice after his mother died, on Oct. 20.

Mrs. Bidrat said she had boundless sympathy for them.

"I brought my mother here in 2001. I had no medical help for my mother. Their situation went into my heart," she said. "I completely understood their situation. It was the same as my situation."

"She's a kind of saint," Mr. Steinberg said of Mrs. Bidrat. "Her patience ... I'm not exaggerating. She does more than I ask of her."

In addition to help from the translator, their doctor and the hospice, the couple were helped with a discount in financial arrangements -- standard at a federally qualified health center.

The hospice helped with the funeral and cemetery arrangements. "This part of life in the United States was completely new," Mr. Steinberg said.

The Steinbergs continue to see their family doctors, Dr. Fox and Dr. Dirks, at the health center.