Published: November 23, 2007 10:09 am         

In praise of Hospice volunteers

By Robin Franklin
SCRMC Hospice & Palliative Care Director

I would like to share my thoughts and praise of Hospice Volunteers. They are truly special people! As Hospice Director at St. Claire Regional Medical Center for 16 years, I’ve seen my share of volunteers come and go. Amazingly, we have a few that have been with hospice through my whole tenure. Rosemary Stokes became our first Volunteer Coordinator, usually a paid position, back in 1991 – as a volunteer! And she is still actively working as a friendly visitor to our patients who have to be hospitalized. She started a very popular group that has made a big impact on our hospice care – the Angel Band. The “Band” is a group of dedicated ladies who crochet angels. These handmade angels are placed in a Christmas card that is mailed to each hospice family we have served for that year. I have received many a thank you for this bereavement remembrance. Marie Howard, Aletha Cornett, Sylvia Glendening and Betty Cox to name just a few volunteers that have been Angel Band members. We just recruited another special lady, Thelma Brown, as a new member this week! Many area Homemaker groups and individuals assist in special projects. We even have two special Santa’s that make home visits – Cecil Trent and Chester Oldfield.

A Medicare certified hospice, such as St. Claire Hospice, provides bereavement services to the families for 13 months after the patient’s death. Troy Burgess is a volunteer who also helps hospice in the area of bereavement. She sends cards and grief information to the families on a regular basis throughout the first year of bereavement. Lana Combs, Doris Patrick and Lois Gullett make follow-up telephone calls to families. Another pair of dynamic volunteers that just happen to assist in the area of bereavement is Sister Jeannie Francis and Cindy Hamilton. They facilitate monthly bereavement support groups. Yet another group of volunteers, the Vanceburg Homemakers (Joyce Silvey, Pauline Chinn, Sandy Bivens and Christine Suttle and others) make stuffed animals for special occasions. They assisted in a neat project a few weeks ago, a young daughter of one our deceased hospice patients asked that the group make stuffed animals from her father’s favorite shirts as a special remembrance. They came up with some beautiful and meaningful stuffed animals. Thank you ladies!

Bereavement care is only a small part of hospice services. Hospice provides care to terminally ill patients and their families. Our team of professionals includes physicians, pharmacist, nurses, social workers, chaplains, home health aides, volunteers and therapists. St. Claire Hospice & Palliative Care provides care in an eight county service area that includes Bath, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Lewis, Menifee, Montgomery and Rowan counties. Most of hospice care occurs in the patient’s home, but sometimes the patient’s home is the local nursing home – yes, hospice provides care in nursing homes. Visiting patient homes and hospice patients in nursing homes is a much needed volunteer activity. Leanna Staggs, Glaspie Jennings, Earl Rucker and Courtney Forbis are current volunteers in this area bringing warm and compassionate conversation during a most difficult time. Clerical assistance in the hospice office, as well as direct patient contact, and special projects helps stretch the paid staff in order to provide more extensive services. Barbara Tackett and Dora Brown assist with many clerical tasks from assembling materials to filing. It would be impossible for me to list all the people and wonderful contributions of the volunteers that are a part of our team.

I’m often asked how people work and volunteer in this difficult and emotionally draining type of service. Hospice staff doesn’t do the job just because they’re paid – they do it because they can and because they care. Believe me, hospice work isn’t for everyone. This is doubly true for hospice volunteers. We do hospice work, especially as a volunteer, because we care about people and the choices available at end of life. We do hospice work because we want this type of care at our end of life. We do hospice work because the rewards of knowing hospice patients and families are far greater than the difficulty of the job. Please call Melanie Hurst, Hospice Volunteer Coordinator at 783-6808 for further information about volunteer opportunities. Even volunteers with little time to offer can play an important part in hospice. There are no minimum times and we are very flexible. The SCR Hospice & Palliative Care office is located at 304 W. Second Street stop by or call 783-6812 for additional hospice information. If you know any of our hospice volunteers and staff please give them a big pat on the back this month during National Hospice Month – they deserve it!