Community Hospital has expanded their hospice services into Chase County beginning in August, according to Tammi Ritter, Director of Community HealthCare, Community Hospital’s home health and hospice services.

“In August, we received a license to provide hospice care in Chase County, in addition to the counties we already provide hospice services in,” she said, adding that Community HealthCare also provides hospice services in Red Willow, Frontier, Hayes, Hitchcock, Furnas and Dundy counties, as well as Decatur and Rawlins counties in Kansas.

Also joining the Community HealthCare staff to help provide Hospice services with the Hospice team in Chase County, is Annette Kasselman, registered nurse, from Imperial.

Annette is excited to have the opportunity to work with Hospice patients in her county. “Hospice is my favorite area of nursing care,” she said. “I like it because patients are generally ready for your help. They are teachable—more so than at any other time of their lives.

“I like the team spirit in treating Hospice patients. It really is the community rising up around the person and their family to help them,” she added, emphasizing the volunteer component necessary to care for a hospice patient. “It takes a team effort in helping the patient be comfortable at home.”

Annette, who has been a nurse for 21 years, has provided hospice care to patients in her hometown of Wichita, as well as Kansas City and Washington, D.C. She and her husband, Jeff, who is a family practice physician associated with the Chase County Community Hospital Clinic, have lived in Imperial for two years. They have five children.

What is Hospice?

Hospice care is a philosophy of care for individuals with terminal or life-threatening illnesses, and is intended to provide comfort and relief from pain—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It is based on the belief that these special people should be able to live their lives to the fullest extent possible. They, along with the members of their families, receive care to preserve and enhance their dignity and their sense of personal fulfillment. Hospice care is available in homes, nursing homes and hospitals—wherever it is needed.

Hospice patients qualify for care following a physician’s diagnosis of a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less, the client or family has made the decision to shift from medical treatment to providing comfort measures. To qualify for hospice, the patient/client must have a 24-hour caregiver(s) from family, friends or hired help. Hospice recognizes, though, that it is just not possible for one person, such as a spouse, to meet all of the needs of a seriously ill person. “Help is always available from the team,” Ritter said. “Family or friends providing the care in the home can call us for help at any time—24 hours a day.”

Community Hospital’s Hospice Services

Services provided under Community Hospital hospice program include: Home care nurses, social services and chaplain, home health aides, volunteers, bereavement services, respite care and the hospice suite.

Volunteer Services

One of the most vital components the Hospice program contributes to the patient is the volunteer services. “We value our loving, caring and loyal volunteers,” said Ritter. “They are essential to our Hospice program.”

Although volunteers can not give continuous care, they are available to sit with a patient to give the family some rest, offer light housekeeping or laundry, help feed or read to the client, assist nursing personnel with personal care, run errands, do yard work, or any number of activities. “Some volunteers may want to help the patient write their life story, or help catalog special recipes or photos,” Kasselman said. Volunteers might also help in the Hospice office.

Volunteers must complete a free, three-part training class before joining the Hospice program.