Literature Review

No One Dies Alone: new Parker hospital program offers companionship to those at the end of life Parker Chronicle; by Haley Lena; 11/27/24 Katherine Wiley, a volunteer at AdventHealth Parker, was in the hospital’s emergency department when she saw first-hand how being alongside a stranger during their final moments of life can have a profound impact on those around them. Wiley sat with an elderly woman who was dying with no one around. The patient’s sons were trying to get to the hospital from Colorado Springs but didn’t make it in time. “When they got there, I told them that I had been with their mom so she was not alone and they were very grateful,” said Wiley. Wiley shared this story with the CEO of the hospital, Michael Goebel, at the annual volunteer luncheon last year, and the following week, the No One Dies Alone program was being set up. “We can provide companionship to patients in the dying process who are truly alone,” said Wiley. “In doing so, (it) provides a gift of respect and dignity to another human being at the end of life.” The volunteers of the program are called “compassionate companions.” They do not provide medical care, but they assist with comfort care measures – they sit beside the patient, hold their hands, play soothing music or read to the patients. For as many circumstances there are that lead a person to be hospitalized, there are also as many reasons why a patient is alone. The patient could have outlived other family members and friends, said Wiley, or are estranged from their family. It could be because the patients themselves don’t want to have their family see them die, but don’t want to be alone. Or they could be a John/Jane Doe who was in an accident. “We want to be there for them, whatever those reasons are,” said Wiley. “This sort of thing feeds my soul.”

How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. ~ John Burroughs

You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you'll win, no matter what the outcome. ~ Patch Adams

You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist. ~ by Indira Gandhi

If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one. ~ Dolly Parton

We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right. ~ Aretha Franklin

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. ~  Aristotle

Rarely are opportunities presented to you in the perfect way, in a nice little box with a yellow bow on top. ... Opportunities, the good ones, they're messy and confusing and hard to recognize. They're risky. They challenge you. ~ Susan Wojcicki, a creator of Google in 1998 and CEO of YouTube 2014-2023

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~ Mark Twain

I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take at all. ~ Simone Biles, Olympic medalist, gymnastics, 2016, 2021, 2024 

I wonder if my first breath was as soul-stirring to my mother as her last breath was to me. ~ Lisa Goich-Andreadis, 14 Days: A Mother, A Daughter, A Two-Week Goodbye

HRRMC Foundation transfers $1.6 million to HRRMC for construction of the Delnay Guest House Ark Valley Voice; by Carly Winchell; 11/26/24 Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center (HRRMC) released a statement announcing a $1.6 million transfer from the HRRMC Foundation to HRRMC to help finance the construciton of the Delnay Guest House. According to the release, HRRMC credits the transfer to a donation: “Thanks to a generous $1.5 million donation from the Robert and Bernice Delnay Estate, and to contributions made by the community, HRRMC Foundation transferred $1.6 million to HRRMC for the construction costs of the Delnay Guest House .” The guest house is located on the HRRMC campus. It includes ten units. Four are designated for overnight charitable accommodation to support HRRMC outpatients receiving treatments at the hospital, their families, and caregivers of HRRMC patients. Some patients and caregivers live 30 miles or more from Salida. Hospice families traveling to Salida to support local hospice patients may also stay in these units.