Published: March 22, 2006 06:07 pm            

Hospice care means choices when dying

Whether they are classified as a non-profit or for-profit organization, local hospices always put the patient first.

Representatives for both Hospice Circle of Love and Ross Health Care Hospice of Enid said they will care for a patient, no matter his or her financial situation.

“We’ll take anyone, provided they meet the criteria,” said Hospice Circle of Love director Cathy Graber. Hospice Circle of Love is a non-profit hospice, the only one in the area, she said. The hospice has two offices — one in Enid and one in Fairview.

“We haven’t turned anyone down,” said Hospice of Enid spokeswoman Kay Grey. The for-profit hospice has a fund set up for charity care, should a patient not be able to pay.

Truthfully, Hank Ross, who is president and CEO of Ross Health Care, said very few hospices started after 1982 are non-profit. He owns hospices in Chickasha and Enid.

Hospice, simply defined, is compassionately caring for the dying in their last days.

“It’s a compassionate way to relieve the terminally ill from pain and suffering and also to aid them spiritually as they enter the next stage,” Grey said.

Hospice care is provided for people who have been diagnosed they have six months or less to live and have chosen to stop (or never start) aggressive treatment for their illness. They can either die in their home environment — their house or a nursing home — or in the hospital.

“We’re about making them comfortable,” Graber said. “We’re not about dying as much as we are about living and finishing well.”

The hospice nurse assesses what the needs of the patient are and then relays that information to the hospice team — chaplain, social worker, volunteer, therapist, nutritionist, etc.

“We don’t go in with an agenda. We meet them where they are. We’re about patient choice, the patient being our boss,” Graber said.

“We try to mold to every situation. We have to do what they need,” Grey said.

Many times a patient realizes he or she needs to resolve personal issues, whether it be spiritually, socially or financially.

“We give them that opportunity,” Graber said.

For example, a 98-year-old man spoke with his brother for the first time in 30 years, Grey said.

Sometimes the patient needs to reunite with a family member who lives on the other side of the country, is serving overseas or is incarcerated. The hospices try to make that happen.

Perhaps the patient would like to make a final fishing or hunting trip or journey to a favorite vacation spot one last time.

“We don’t have restrictions on our patients,” said Katherine Butler, patient care coordinator for Hospice Circle of Love. “They can travel out of their home.”

The local hospices network with hospices in the area where the patient going so there will be a continuum of care wherever he or she goes.

However, both Graber and Grey acknowledged a vast majority of their patients are too sick and fragile to travel.

Hospice Circle of Love, which has served the Enid area since 1983, averages 50 patients at any given time, with more than 300 patients a year, Graber said.

Hospice of Enid has had a total of 26 patients since it opened in December, Grey said. She said a hospice in this area should be able to carry a case load of 125 patients at a time.

“We are serving a 50-mile radius,” Grey said, which equals seven counties and 114,000 people.

Of course not all of the population needs hospice care, Graber added.

Nevertheless, Graber said they can handle the need, how ever many that is.

“We have the staff to take care of any number,” she said. “We take care of 70 percent of the cancer deaths in this area.”

Just as the patient comes first, the family comes in a close second.

Both hospices provide guidance and pamphlets on what to anticipate as the patient is dying.

Both hospices also have a bereavement program. Through the program, the hospice checks in with the surviving family for at least a year and their needs are assessed during that time. Most of the assessment is over the phone and a counselor is provided as needed.

Hospice Circle of Love offers a grief support group and sends cards on the anniversary of the death.

“They’re so happy someone remembers them,” Graber said. “It’s a very positive thing.”

One of the main goals of Hospice of Enid, Grey said, is to educate the community and health care providers. She said many people and physicians are still not sure what hospice can do.

“It has so many benefits,” she said. “I don’t think families understand the benefits.”

Graber agreed.

“Death in general is unpleasant. We’re generally uncomfortable with dying,” she said. But, she said, people are more and more dealing end-of-life issues and facing these decisions in wake of Terri Schiavo’s plight.

“It’s important that people have choices,” Butler said.