Guadalupe Regional Medical Center | Health Currents | Summer 2019

5 Meet the newest members of our team GRMEDCENTER.COM I n th i s i s sue SUMMER 2019 Many people are uncomfortable talking about the inevitability of death. When a loved one is seriously ill, it is natural to focus on the hope that medical services will preserve and extend life. However, once the patient and family have come to terms with the idea that a health condition is terminal, hospice —Continued on page 2 services are available to help guide the family. Hospice care maintains the philosophy that death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it. GRMC established its Hospice Services in 1990 and has cared for more than 4,500 patients and their families since. Perhaps the best way to understand the vital and compassionate services provided by hospice staff and volunteers is to hear the stories of grateful family members. Long-time Seguinite Sharon Stollewerk shared her stories of both her mother and her father being patients of GRMC Hospice. Sharon is the Director of Faith Lutheran Preschool, where she also teaches a class of 4-year-olds. Sharon, her adult children and five grandchildren all consider family their No. 1 priority—a value that was instilled by Sharon’s parents, Marie and Basil Karm, during their 72 years of marriage. The right kind of support Sharon confides that she was initially hesitant and scared about hospice care when her mother began to lose her battle with breast and bone cancer in 2017, but her reservations were quickly erased when she met the staff. “I cannot tell you how wonderful every single one of them were—so compassionate, loving and attentive to my mom’s needs.” She recalls that the nurses would stay with her throughout the days and nights to alleviate her pain and anxiety, to manage her medical needs, and to help Basil and the family through these last stages of life. She fondly remembers the nurses, chaplains and volunteers as angels who were always there, never rushing a visit, always providing a listening ear. A story of compassionate care HOSPICE HEALTH CURRENTS ADVANCED MEDICINE. PERSONAL TOUCH. Standard U.S. Postage PAID Tacoma, WA Permit No. 1066