To recognize November as National Hospice Month, Saint Anthony’s Hospice is striving to embrace this year’s theme of “It Must Be Love” by raising awareness about the field of hospice.
Saint Anthony’s Hospice has a long tradition of caring for terminally ill persons, their families and caregivers in the comforting setting of their own home. Beginning in 1978, Saint Anthony’s Hospice program was to provide compassionate and dignified care for the terminally ill. At that time it was the only such program in the area. The hospice philosophy was embraced by the Sisters and staff at Saint Anthony’s Health Center because it addressed the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of the dying patient. Today, Saint Anthony’s Hospice is providing highly-skilled, professional nursing care.
“The nurses and staff are bringing comfort and dignity to our patients,” said Brenda Wyman, Director of Hospice. “We are able to give relief to not only the patient, but to the patient’s families as well.”
Saint Anthony’s Hospice team works together to offer individualized, holistic care to families when it is critically needed, according to Wyman. The hospice nurses manage medication and treatments are available 24 hours a day. Social workers are provided to give counseling and assist with end of life decisions psychosocial needs and community referrals, and pastoral care workers are there to provide spiritual care for both the patient and the family. Overseeing all of the care is Dr. R. Patel, Hospice Medical Director. Dr. Petal reviews the patient history and then directs a care plan for each patient. Pain and symptom management are high priorities in the hospice program as well as comfort and support, rather than curative approaches. But Saint Anthony’s Hospice does not end its care with the death of a patient.
“Every individual that passes leaves a grieving family behind,” Wyman said. “The hospice bereavement staff is available to provide supportive contacts designed to assist in coping with grief and adjustment to loss.
“We follow the family for 13 months after the death for bereavement care. In addition, we have a bereavement support group that meets monthly and is available to anyone in the community who has suffered a loss.
Currently working with over 20 hospice care patients, Saint Anthony’s Hospice is aware that accepting death as a natural part of life is about moving toward wholeness and that everyone should have dignity at their time of death.
“Our staff and volunteers want to provide a peaceful, uninterrupted goodbye,” said Wyman. “Although hospice patients have a poor prognosis, hospice is not about dying. It is about receiving appropriate treatment.”
Today, although Saint Anthony’s Hospice has grown, it has never changed the focus on caring for the terminally ill by providing emphases on the quality of life and individual dignity. Wyman recalled that Sister M. Theotima, then hospital administrator and formerly Director of Mission Services, was once quoted as saying, “The hospice program goes along well with our hospital philosophy and motto: To serve God is to serve His people.” This remains the motto of Saint Anthony’s today and is reflected in the care of the Hospice providers.
To learn more about Saint Anthony’s Hospice services, please call 618-463-5636.