FAIRHAVEN, MA (2.26.08) - - Marion resident Bill Fuller is one of Community Nurse & Hospice Care’s many success stories. Even so, he holds a special distinction among the countless people who have benefited from the skilled, compassionate care of the organization’s home healthcare nurses. In an out-of-the-ordinary turn of events, Bill went from hospice patient to hospice volunteer.
Bill’s story might have had a very different ending without the hospice program. To support the program’s growth in the number of patients on service, Community Nurse and Hospice Care (CNHC) is holding a gala on Friday, April 11, 2008, from 6-9pm, at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, to raise funds for hospice services.
“When we realized that we would have to step up our fundraising efforts, we brought together our entire team, including board members and members of the community, to discuss how we could meet our growing financial needs,” said Jane Stankiewicz, President and CEO of Community Nurse & Hospice Care. “We decided to set new financial goals for hospice and take our annual fundraiser in a different direction than in past years. We came up with the idea to ‘Light Up the Night’ of April 11, 2008 with an all-new, signature event.”
Event guests in the Whaling Museum’s elegant Jacobs Gallery will enjoy a full bar, heavy hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction with spectacular tickets, trips and hotel stays. The piece de resistance, Jane says, is the chance to bid on a trip for two to Paris. “We are very excited that professional auctioneer Jay Kivowitz has agreed to conduct the auction. Some lucky person will take home the trip of a lifetime.”
Founded in 1916, Fairhaven-based Community Nurse & Hospice Care is a nonprofit organization serving Southeastern Massachusetts from Wareham to Westport with professional home healthcare services. In 1993, CNHC expanded its home healthcare services to become the first Medicare-certified hospice program in the greater New Bedford area. Hospice is chosen when curative treatment is no longer an option, and the goal of care is comfort and quality at the end of life. Although it deals with the day-to-day, emotional realities of death and dying, hospice is acknowledged as a life-affirming experience by both patients and families.
This past year, the CNHC hospice team of 11 staff and 427 volunteers provided physical, emotional and spiritual support care to 110 patients and their family members, with volunteers providing a total of 775 hours. The average reimbursement for hospice is about $151 per day, an amount that is expected to cover the many services provided, yet a patient could require as many as four visits in one day from a nurse, a home health aide, a social worker and a volunteer. In addition, all medications and durable medical equipment such as a hospital bed are also part of the day’s cost.
It was the CNHC hospice program that brought expert healthcare to Bill Fuller’s home twice a day for five months following his cancer surgery. Not only did he recover his health through the Bridge Program, he also became a published author through a connection he forged with his primary care nurse, Sue Mechler. A retired businessman with a self-described “ability to assess people,” Bill says that CNHC is “a top-notch, well-run organization with low administrative costs. Once a patient is registered, they do not abandon you if you run out of money.” While the length of time in hospice varies from patient to patient, some have received care for close to two years.
Michele Soulard’s experience with the hospice program involved her mother, Renee, who received care for the final year of her life. Michele understands that fundraising events such as “Light Up the Night” are necessary to sustain prolonged services. “The money that people donate to this type of care, you are really helping your friends, neighbors and possibly your own family,” she says. “There’s no way to pay for all the services upfront. If I had to pay for all of that out-of-pocket, I would not have been able to do it. And to die with dignity in your own home, with the people that you know around you and familiar surroundings, means so much to a person.”
Felicia Mikus’ husband, Alfred, is currently receiving hospice care. “We’ve been married 64 years, and it’s been a good 64 years so that’s the way we want to stay together,” she says.” Without help from Community Nurse & Hospice Care, I really don’t know what I would do. As a last resort, I’d have to put him in a nursing home which I don’t want to do. And if I was forced to do it, it would break my heart. We’ve just been so long together.”
Jane Stankiewicz says stories like these help to show how hospice shines a light into the lives of real people. “At Community Nurse & Hospice Care, we’re all about patients and their families. Our fundraiser gives us an opportunity to bring the community together to celebrate the hospice mission and staff and remember the families’ loved ones who are gone but not forgotten. We’re looking forward to having a good time for a good cause.”
For information on how to obtain tickets for “Light Up the Night,” call Jennifer Fagan or Linda Quinn at 508.992.6278.
For more information, contact:
Jennifer Fagan
508.992.6278
jfagan@communitynurse.com