“MY THANKS TO ALL WHO MADE THIS JOURNEY A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE. WHAT A BLESSING TO HAVE SUCH A SPECTACULAR SERVICE AVAILABLE. MAY GOD BLESS EACH OF YOU OVER AND OVER.”

 

“MY MOTHER BECAME ILL, VERY QUICKLY AND PASSED W/IN THREE MONTHS. HOSPICE STEPPED IN AND ALLOWED ME TOBE A DAUGHTER, INSTEAD OF A CAREGIVER. THEY WERE THERE TO HELP MY FAMILY, THROUGH EVERYTHING. I COULD NOT HAVE ABIDED BY MY MOTHER’S WISHES W/O HOSPICE’S HELP AND I COULD NOT HAVE MADE IT THROUGH THE LAST MINUTES, W/O THEM. I WILL NEVER FORGET THEM.”

 

“HOSPICE WAS A GREAT HELP TO BOTH MY HUSBAND AND ME. HIS PAIN WAS NEVER REALLY CONTROLLED, UNTIL HECAME TO HOSPICE.”

 

 

 Because hospice touches us all.

 When I started my journey as a hospice professional, my grandmother was so proud that I was following in her footsteps. I never knew, until I chose end-of-life care as my life’s work, that she had volunteered to care for the dying as a young woman. If there were friends in need, she would dress their open wounds and sit with them until their death.

 Grandmother was part of the philosophy of Hospice long before we ever had it as a system to compassionately care for the terminally ill. So it was surely fitting that St. Anthony’s would provide comfort to her, and to all of us, in her home, which was the atmosphere that we all cherished so much.  Her goal in life was to promote togetherness in our family and to have ALL of her birds in her nest. She would schedule regular gatherings, cook the feast, lay out the quilts and throw pillows, and then sit back and glow while our whole family would eat, talk, play, and lounge around her family room.

 When she fell ill and declined very quickly, my amazing colleagues at St. Anthony’s filed into her home in the most natural order to help us care for her. They joined us as we pulled the quilts, pillows, benches, and chairs around her bed and surrounded her with love. Feasts were prepared with her recipes, babies napped in playpens around her. We played the games she taught us, told stories, laughed, and cried. She had brought us together one last time and she laid there in peace and simply glowed until her very last breath.

 Thanks to My Hospice, My Grandmother died in her home, with the dignity and loving care that she always gave to others, surrounded by all of her offspring, who were the light of her life. I feel so lucky to have now been both the giver and the receiver of the blessing that is called hospice care

Mark Chumbler, St. Anthony’s Hospice Executive Director was recently named president of The Kentucky Association of Hospice & Palliative Care Organization term expiring 2014.

KAHPC is a non-profit state organization representing the hospices and palliative care organizations throughout the Commonwealth. Kentucky’s hospices cover all 120 counties in the state and are comprised of free standing hospice programs, hospital based programs and programs that are in conjunction with home health programs.

“Hospice care in Kentucky is generally recognized through family satisfaction rankings as the national benchmark in quality.  Partial credit for this can be attributed to the Kentucky Association of Hospice & Palliative Care’s longstanding commitment to high quality care in all programs across the Commonwealth.  It is humbling to be selected by my peers to lead our board of directors and guide our strategic plan for the next two years.”

KAHPC is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, comprised of the Executive Directors of each member organization. KAHPC has three classes of membership including provider members, those agencies, programs or institutions licensed to provide hospice, palliative, and end of life care in the Commonwealth of Kentucky; associate members, non-hospice organizations that have expressed or demonstrated an interest in hospice, palliative and end of life care in Kentucky; and individual membership, persons who wish to support the philosophies of hospice, palliative, and end of life care.

Because the greatest thing about hospice is that they protect our superheroes.

Growing up I don’t think any of us ever thought a favorite photo would be one of a grainy black and white image of my father’s healthy lungs- of course growing up our dad was a superhero who defied the odds against anything. There was nothing he could not conquer; including cancer, that photo of our dad’s lungs meant he had beat cancer, or so we thought.

Our hospice story is not a good story, rather a story of learning too little too late; hospice was for other people, not our dad, he beat everything. He did fight a good fight, but unfortunately in the end cancer won. The worst part is it not only defeated him, but defeated our entire family because we were without the tender support of a hospice family. Our hospice journey is one that although that favorite photo is of a healthy pair of lungs, the photo we did not see was the illness that was everywhere else in his body. We did not see truth, we saw our superhero of a dad—if we had been a hospice family we could have learned quality not quantity,
comfort not fight, and cherish not sorrow.

Our journey is now our passion making sure every daughter and every son can have their father as their father because the greatest thing about hospice is that they protect the superheroes.

In the spring of 1999, my father was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent surgery and chemotherapy but nothing seemed to help. We contacted hospice and Dad was able to stay home and have the quality of life that he wanted and deserved. That was important to him, and to us, as well. The physician told us Dad only had two weeks to two months left to live, but he lived another 2 ½ years after the initial diagnosis was made. I believe it was due to the outstanding care he received.

 Hospice helped Dad and our family in so many ways…they were able to control the pain and answer any questions we had about what to expect along this difficult journey. I know we couldn’t have taken care of Dad without the guidance and reassurance from the staff at hospice.  He was able to live his last months surrounded by family and friends, loved and cared for, at home, with dignity and respect. Hospice was there for my dad and for us, I consider them to be part of our family. So much so that I went to work for hospice several years later and I couldn’t be happier to be part of such a wonderful mission.
Today, I am part of hospice and hospice is part of me.

Thank you to everyone who participated and attended yesterday’s Alice P. Taylor candlelight service. Henderson is truly blessed to have such musical talent in our community.

Because hospice is what I love to do.

My Hospice journey began in 1994 as a supplemental position. At the time it was a just an extra job, but over the years that has changed. It is no longer a job, it is what I love to do.

The nursing positions I held before were just jobs but this role is a mission. I strive to provide compassionate care to everyone whether they are 1 day old or 101 years old. just like I would want for myself or my family.

 I have many hospice memories and moments that have molded and shaped me over the years, but it is the patients and the families that I care for that have made me the Hospice nurse that I am today.

http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/a-conversation-many-doctors-wont-have/?ref=health

Because our nurses learned from their role models.

My journey to becoming a hospice nurse began in 1990 when I was an eleven-year old child. My great grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1988 and underwent surgery and treatment. The cancer then went to her liver, and hospice was called later that year.
I was just a child and don’t remember everything but I remember the volunteers who would come and sit with Grandmaw so my Granny could go get groceries and run her errands. We were never allowed to be in the room with Grandma when the hospice staff would visit
because my parents felt it would be better for us to stay in the other room.

At the time, I did not really know what hospice was. I knew that Grandmaw was sick and my parents told me that she could not get better and that she would die. I was not scared for her to die because I knew that she was a Christian and I knew she was going to heaven. My Granny and my great uncle and aunt provided 24 hour care and Grandmaw never had to go the hospital or nursing home She was able to die right in her own living room. As a child, I was so amazed that my Grandmaw did not have to die at the hospital. Isn’t that where people go to die? That is what I thought as a child.

Then I realized that people can die in their homes. What an amazing thing it is to be cared for at home by your family and hospice staff.
My Grandmaw died right before Christmas in 1990 and her funeral was on Christmas Eve. From that point in my life, I began saying that I wanted to be a nurse. But not just any nurse, I wanted to be a hospice nurse. It is a wonderful thing that one of the nurses that took care of my grandmother is now a colleague of mine, Lucy Williams.

I know she does not realize this but she is part of the reason that I am here today. It is an honor to get to work side by side with her and an honor to call her a friend. It is because of my Grandmaw and Lucy Williams that my journey to becoming a hospice nurse is now complete. I have been a hospice nurse for almost three years and I cannot imagine doing any other type of nursing.

Dear Editor:
November is National Hospice/Palliative Care Month. It seems fitting at this time to highlight the mission of St. Anthony’s Hospice as well as to formally share its unique relationship with our community.

St. Anthony’s Hospice is nearing its 30th anniversary of providing quality, end-of-life care to families in Henderson, Union, & Webster Counties. In doing so it seems fitting to share a few facts about the organization:

St. Anthony’s Hospice enjoys the highest caregiver satisfaction rankings of the 23 hospices in the Commonwealth on the five key quality dashboard indicators for 2011 as measured by the Family Evaluation of Hospice Care survey compiled by Deyta, Inc.
St. Anthony’s Hospice ranks in the top 10% of all hospices nationwide in 2011 on these same rankings measured on the Family Evaluation of Hospice Care survey compiled by Deyta, Inc.

St. Anthony’s Hospice is comprised of a diverse and professional team of approximately 70 employees and 50 volunteers who engage in the life-giving endeavor of making the end-of-life as peaceful and dignified as desired for families.
Hospice care in this community is provided in the comfort of one’s home regardless if that is your private residence, your apartment or assisted living center, or in your long-term care facility, such as Redbanks Nursing Center, Medco Center of Henderson, Colonial Terrace Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, or Morganfield Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. In-patient hospice care is also extended at the St. Anthony’s Hospice Lucy Smith King Care Center located on the campus of Methodist Hospital.
For three consecutive years 100% of families served indicated they would recommend the care provided by St. Anthony’s Hospice in the future.

In 2011 our organization embarked on an initiative to ensure that every family engagement by every St. Anthony’s team member on every day of the year is driven not by the needs of our team or of our desires, but by the needs & wishes of the individual served. As a group we have read and studied the text “The Four Things That Matter Most” by world renowned hospice physician, Dr. Ira Byock. We have and continue to shape our methods of care around just that concept, “what matters most to you and your family today?” If it is what matters most to you in your life today and you have invited the hospice team into your home, our goal is to meet that desire. Take for example the Vietnam Veteran who wants to travel to Washington DC to personally view and touch the Vietnam War Memorial Wall or the resident on Main Street who just wants the means to enjoy beautiful autumn days on her porch surrounded by her flowers and songbirds; our mission is to bring these desires to life for them. These are but two of the examples of families who have entrusted their healthcare at the end of life to the St. Anthony’s team.

Hospice care is reimbursed through multiple forms: the charitable kindness of the community, Medicaid, private health insurers, families themselves, and Medicare. Medicare holds the biggest portion of the reimbursement pie, and like all other forms of federally budgeted expenditures, Medicare funding to hospices is decreasing. This is truly a significant challenge for St. Anthony’s Hospice. However combining prudent management of resources with high quality, mission-driven care produces results. These results are measured by our sweet lady friend who lived the final two weeks of her life at the Care Center surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and her companion canine who stayed at her bedside (and oftentimes in her bed) nearly every waking hour. These results are measured by the adult son who said he was fearful of taking care of his mother in his own home and shared with our team after his mother’s death that his mother’s final few months of life were the best months he ever shared with her. Finally, these results are measured by a team that works long hours for a family to says to them in the middle of the night after their patriarch’s last breaths, “Thank you. We couldn’t have done this without you.”

During the month of the year when we try to highlight care to our community, our main highlight is what guides our decisions every day, our noble mission. For this it is our honor to share…St. Anthony’s Hospice, in partnership with the community, seeks to maximize the quality and dignity of life for individuals facing life-limiting illnesses. Through a holistic approach, our professional team is honored to guide and empower patients, families, & caregivers during life’s most sacred journey.”
Thank you, community, for allowing this to be a reality in Northwest Kentucky.

Mark Chumbler
Executive Director
St. Anthony’s Hospice