Hospice eases end of life for patients

By Samantha Friedman (Contact)

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Hospice is one of 55 organizations

in Arkansas that provides palliative care.

However, it is one of only a few that operates

as a nonprofit, and is the largest of those, serving

20 percent of all hospice patients in the state,

according to Michael Aureli, president and chief

executive officer. The staff of doctors, nurses,

chaplains, social workers and bereavement

counselors treat terminally ill patients in inpatient

centers at St. Vincent Doctors Hospital in Little

Rock and St. Joseph’s Mercy Health Center in

Hot Springs, in nursing homes and most often,

in patients’ own homes.

Aureli notes the different experiences of his

mother, who died of cancer and not under hos

pice care, and his father, who died of heart com

plications while under hospice care.

“If she had died with hospice care, her last

few months of life would have been much more

comfortable,” he says. “Her symptoms would

have been managed, her pain would have been

controlled and there would have been people

that counseled with her to keep her from being

so worried and nervous about what would hap

pen when she died. All those things would have

made a tremendous difference in the quality of

her end of life.” Gina Rouse, who joined Arkansas Hospice’s

board in 2006 after her father died of colon cancer

at an inpatient facility, says not only the dying pa

tient benefits from care; family members do too.

“You don’t really understand, and a lot of peo

ple are not familiar with [hospice facilities] until

they face that situation,” she says. “Being an only

child and facing this was devastating and it was

very scary. Then you have people that will step in,

help you make that correct decision for your par

ent, guide you through, basically hold your hand,

hug you, cry with you, give you information to

read so you can understand as much as possible

what’s going on, and even after your loved one is

gone, call to just check with me to see how I was

doing, what needs I had.

“Not only were they caring for my father, they

were also caring for me. It’s priceless.” About one third of the state’s nurses certified

in palliative care are employed by Hospice, Aureli

says.

“Our mission is to embrace those who are dy

ing with the best of care wherever there is a need

in Arkansas, so we are really stretching ourselves

to try to reach rural Arkansas,” Aureli says, refer

ring to the organization’s programs in Monticello,

West Memphis and Batesville. “Reaching those

patients is very expensive and hard to do, but

we’re committed to try to reach those who need

that service.” During fiscal year 2007, he said, Hospice pro

vided $800,000 in unreimbursed services, mak

ing fundraisers like Restaurant Week essential to

fulfilling its mission.

More information on Arkansas Hospice is avail

able by calling (501) 748-3333 or online at www.

arkansashospice.org.

Weekend, Pages 104 on 08/15/2008