PICTURE THIS OF BRIMLEY, MICHIGAN
The sunroom on the northwest side of Robert and Helen Ball Hospice House is a popular spot.
In September 2016, Marion Eavou came to live – and to die – in the Robert and Helen Ball Hospice House in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Every minute of her eight months there, someone in her large family stayed with her.
And every minute, hospice staff were available to enhance her living and to give dignity to her dying.
“It was a life-saver for our family. It really was,” says Gina Hiipakka, one of Marion’s daughters. “If it had not been for hospice, I don’t know what we would have done.
“The atmosphere was so homelike,” Gina continues. “The staff make us feel like we were a part of their family, and we really needed that. They knew everyone’s name. It was a very special arrangement and so nice that our mother’s grandchildren, great-grandchildren, sons and daughters could come and treat it like their own home. We’d walk in, take off our shoes and head for the coffee pot.”
The Hospice of the Eastern Upper Peninsula opened the Ball Hospice House in August 2012 for patients in Chippewa, Luce and Mackinac counties. Since then, it has helped more than 300 families, free of charge.
PICTURE THIS OF BRIMLEY, MICHIGAN
A great room connects the kitchen/dining area with a sitting room and a grand piano.
The Hospice House was the culmination of a volunteer effort to raise $900,000 for construction, but community members were not content just to open the hospice doors. They continue to raise thousands of dollars and gifts-in-kind annually. Donations come from benefactors with large sums, but also from children’s classroom fundraisers and community special events. The always sold-out Dancing with the Stars for Hospice and a Madrigal Dinner collect much of the $250,000 it costs to run the Hospice House each year.
PICTURE THIS OF BRIMLEY, MICHIGAN
Volunteers, some of them four-footed, come to provide comfort and a friendly hello.
Such local generosity is all the more impressive when you consider that the population of the tri-county area is only about 55,000.
Because of that strong support, Hospice of the EUP can provide free services in the Hospice House, in private residences and in nursing homes – the only hospice in Michigan to do so. Medical services are available from the Chippewa County Health Department through a partnership that has existed since Hospice of the EUP was established 1983.
“It’s worked for all this time,” said Tracey Holt, hospice executive director. “We have a phenomenal relationship.”
County Health Nursing Supervisor Heidi Bailey agrees. “The connection that we have between our hospice volunteer component and the health department is extremely rare. … When people from the state look at what we have, they are amazed.”
In May 2014, the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of Michigan recognized Hospice of the EUP with its first “President’s Award,” an award actually inspired by the EUP program.
For those in the hospice program, insurance generally pays for care from the health department. Nurses go into homes for symptom management, Heidi says. “They are a liaison between the family and the physician, and they are able to offer advice on what else is needed. In addition, we have home health aides, who provide personal care, and a non-denominational spiritual counselor on staff. We have social workers who come in to help with the process of what can be an overwhelming situation.”
A host of volunteers also help. “Volunteers come from throughout the community,” Heidi says. “They work at all different levels, but they all go through the same required training. Some want to deliver medication; some want to make meals, but don’t feel comfortable providing personal care. … We hand-pick them based on a family’s need. We know which volunteers are comfortable with particular issues, such as helping a patient get to the bathroom.”
“People are learning that hospice is not just medical care,” Tracey says. “When we first started, we were providing a lot of bereavement services and emotional support. … There has been a lot of public education since then and the demand has increased.”
In 2002, the hospice served about 46 families per year. By 2014, that figure had more than tripled.
As Marion Eavou approached the end of her life, dementia and other health issues made her fearful, Gina says. “It was a difficult situation because our mother was distrustful of everyone who was trying to help her. But the staff was very protective of her and helped her understand. … Even when she was confused, the staff was so kind and would repeatedly tell her what they were doing and why they were doing it. They did it over and over and over again.”
The Eavou family found that hospice care was good for them as well as for their mother. “Our family sort of took over the sunroom,” Gina says. “It became a place where we could relax and share our thoughts and our memories, as well as discuss things that we needed to. We basically hadn’t been together for the last 40 years …but we got together and we supported each other.”
Tracey later wrote to her board of directors about the family’s experience. “The relationships that were formed through their hospice experience will never be forgotten. This is a simple reminder of who we are, what we do and why we do it, even in the most difficult of times.”
In 2011, Tom Pink took a Hospice of the EUP patient fishing and then got talked into performing in the first Dancing with the Stars fundraiser. He’s been a hospice volunteer since (but not a dancer).