View Point - Letters to the Editor

EDITOR: It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . . no, wait, this is November!

It’s the month for Thanksgiving – and it’s National Hospice Month! 

­So, in the spirit of thanksgiving, Hospice of the Red River Valley celebrates National Hospice Month by giving thanks, most importantly, for:

■  The great privilege of serving over 1300 patients and their loved ones in the past year who are on intimate and difficult end-of-life journeys;

■  Collaboration with health care providers throughout our 28-county service area who participate in ensuring that hospice care is made available to patients;

■  Individuals, businesses and foundations whose “deliberate acts of generosity”  have, again, supported our mission to the tune of nearly $1 million dollars in the past year, and

■  Hospice colleagues throughout the area who share our passion for gold standard end-of-life care.

It Must Be Love is the national theme for this year’s recognition. Indeed, it must be love when 1.3 million people with life-limiting illness received care from the nation’s 4,100 hospice providers last year. Together, we cared for people with heart disease, dementia, lung disease, cancer and countless other diagnoses.

Don Schumacher, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Association, describes the deeper value of hospice care in these words:

The philosophy at the heart of hospice care is about so much more than what’s commonly seen in conventional medical care. It’s about providing solutions for difficult times when hope is in question, it’s being close in a time of fear, it’s about dignity, humanity, and hope. When you look at all that makes up hospice care, and the difference that care makes in the lives of more and more Americans, you begin to understand its contribution in the healthcare continuum.

Hospice is not a place but a philosophy of care created to help people live with dignity, comfort, and compassion at the end of life. Hospice programs provide pain management, symptom control, psychosocial support, and spiritual care to patients and their families. In addition, we offer grief support and community education regarding end-of-life issues. And, Hospice of the Red River Valley serves everyone, regardless of ability to pay.

Over and over again, we hear from patients and families, “We wish we would have called you sooner,” and “We didn’t realize you did all that.” There is so much we can do to help, and too many people face the difficult challenges of life’s closure without the highly skilled, compassionate and diverse services that we can provide. We are here to enrich lives and to make this a more loving, caring place to live.  And we hope you are thankful for that.

Wishing you an abundant and joyful Thanksgiving,

Susan Fuglie

Executive Director

Hospice of the Red River Valley

Fargo, N.D.