She sits outside with her walker listening to the students zooming past, the band practicing their new songs, the high pitched sound coming from the coaches’ whistles, the laughter and chatter of the students. She listens to the the world of the young people that spend their day right across the street. She counts each day as a blessing, for she doesn’t know when her last day is. But she knows that it’s close.
Hospice of Wichita Falls, you see it everyday. But do you know what’s going on inside?
I always thought of Hospice as a place to go and die, but it’s not.
Hospice is there not only for the terminally ill but also for the families that know they are losing their loved ones. Hospice isn’t a place, it’s a type of care. Most of the care is available at the patient’s home. This enables the family to stay together, so that the patient can be at peace in their final days. For those who can no longer stay at home due to unmanageable symptoms, they go to the Hospice inpatient unit. It is designed for short term stays, meaning after their symptoms are stabilized they are able to return to their homes where they are most comfortable. This provides the caregiver with relief by admitting the patient to the inpatient center, called “respite care,” respite meaning just a time of relief for the family members or caregivers. The rooms there are like a room you’d find at a home, peaceful and relaxing.
Walking through the halls of hospice there are little tiles along the walls; “In loving memory of…” is what is painted on them. It gives a sense of sympathy and despair but also of hope and lightheartedness. These people had a place to be that was peaceful in their last days.
Their patients range from infancy to people in their hundreds. Hospice is here to make the end of life as easy as possible.
As sad as this sounds, what’s worse is that families of these patients are having a hard time coming to see their loved ones, due to the Rider students using their parking lot.
Even though you may assume the spot you just parked in in the Hospice parking lot would be vacant for long enough you never really know.
“The inpatient unit is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the parking lot may be empty for the time being, but things change so quickly here,” Tricia Golding, Marketing Coordinator at Hospice of Wichita Falls said. “Within 30 minuets we might need that entire parking lot; we never know when a patient may come in with an emergency bringing their large family along,” Golding said. “We just hope that after the students are informed about what all goes on here in Hospice, they will think twice about parking in our parking lot.”
The people at hospice are aware of the fact that the school parking space is limited, but they need the parking spaces for something more important. What if it was your loved one in the building. You would feel differently about parking there. “Even on days when there is a pep rally, the parents are tempted to grab the vacant parking spot just across the way,” Sue D’Aosta Baker said. “Our parking lot is a hot commodity.”
“We don’t believe anybody intentionally parks there saying ‘I don’t care’,” Golding said.
Hospice appreciates all that the Rider Raiders do for them such as, “The Tree of Lights,” Teens Make a Difference Day, the choir, and the band every day in the early of the morning.
“The patients that stay here love even just the crack of the baseball hitting the bat,” Baker said.
“You guys are just in the middle of your lives, they are at the end of theirs,” Golding said.
“They enjoy every minute getting to listen to you guys.”
Hospice of Wichita Falls is the only non-profit hospice, and this year they will be celebrating their 25th anniversary. Their first patient was an at home patient in 1985, then as the need for certain patients who needed extra care became more clear,they opened the W. Erle and Emma White Hospice Inpatient Center in 1985 with private rooms for each patient. They have 12 beds for the inpatient patients, and in most cases, there are no out of pocket costs for their services, and no one will be turned down because of inability to pay.
One program they provide is for grieving children, teens, and their families, called “Building Bridges.” A program where you can express your feelings and open up about your grief. They are there to listen to you and understand your feelings.
“What we do is take care of people at the end of life,” Golding said.
“Care, hope, and support for all, when illness threatens life.” -Hospice of Wichita Falls