The ‘News’ Category
Facing the Mourning
Grief Support – First Session to be held tomorrow February 7
Marquette, MI – Lake Superior Hospice will be hosting an interactive support group designed to help with the grieving process by using visual and thought provoking tools. This support group is open to all types of losses, individuals and family members. Facing the Mourning will be held on Tuesday, February 7, 14, 21 and 28 from 2-3:30 p.m. and will be held at Lake Superior Hospice. The first week includes keeping your memories alive, followed by letter writing, than journaling your thoughts and the last week we will be wrapping up with working toward the future. Please feel free to join us for any week, there is no cost associated with the support group. For more information and to register for the group, please contact Paula Bur, Bereavement Coordinator at 906.225.7760 or pbur@lakesuperiorhospice.org
Lake Superior Hospice welcomes new COO
MARQUETTE – Lake Superior Hospice has hired Sam Matani to be its new chief operating officer.
Matani is a graduate of Loyola University – Maryland with a Bachelor of Science Degree in accounting. He has worked in many different areas of the country both as a consultant and an employee for a variety of home care agencies. He has almost 20 years of experience in hospice finance and accounting, and has served as controller or chief financial officer for public, private, for-profit and non-profit agencies.
A dedicated stable of volunteers fuel local hospice programs
Giving their time
December 6, 2011
MARQUETTE -For more than a decade, Dr. Dan Mazzuchi has gone out of his way to provide assistance to people when they need it most.
In the 11 years since he retired as the CEO of the U.P. Health Education Corporation, he has served as a volunteer at Marquette’s Lake Superior Hospice.
“I’m as passionate about it today as I ever have been,” said Mazzuchi, 72. “I hope to be an active hospice volunteer for the foreseeable future.”
He estimates that he is one of about 50 volunteers at Lake Superior Hospice.
Erika Hefke is the director of another Marquette hospice organization, U.P. Home, Health and Hospice, and she said volunteers like Mazzuchi make the whole thing work.
“Volunteers are integral,” she said. “Nurses are wonderful and home health care aids are terrific, but the volunteers transcend medical boundaries.”
Hefke said her organization has about 30 volunteers from all walks of life – college students, middle-aged workers and retired people are all represented. They also meet all needs; Hefke said they have volunteers specializing in pet therapy and massage therapy and volunteering combat veterans who can relate to other vets.
“It really is what makes hospice unique,” she said. “They are involved in every aspect of our care.”
Both Hefke and Mazzuchi said they would like to see more hospice volunteers. The process of volunteering in a hospice situation, though, takes a special type of person, Mazzuchi said. Though it is tough for the average person, he said it is important to relate to someone with a terminal illness as though they are any other person.
“(It requires) being willing to walk toward a dying person, rather than to walk away, which is what all of us tend to do, especially when that dying person is someone we love. It’s too painful,” Mazzuchi said. “All of us, as human beings, are at a loss, genuinely, about what we should say. You don’t know what to say, so you just say, ‘How are you doing?’ and basically, you walk away.”
Another hurdle is the often negative connotation associated with hospice. Those involved say the service is a great thing that rarely adheres to the narrow constructs of popular belief.
“Hospice is a team approach to aggressive symptom management and comfort care for people with a life-limiting illness,” Hefke said. “People think hospice is about dying and it’s actually about living and about quality of life.”
In fact, Mazzuchi said he has been far from surprised by recent studies indicating that hospice care prolongs life.
Hospice, according to Lake Superior Hospice Clinical Manager Becky Shauver, “adds an extra layer of support. It doesn’t take away any family support. it doesn’t take away any medical support or any community support they already have.”
Shauver said hospice is often thought of as the absolute last care provided to a dying individual.
“I still think there is a lack of community education about the service,” she said. “You don’t have to be on death’s door. You don’t even have to be home bound.”
To be medically eligible for hospice, it is suggested that a person’s physician would not be surprised if they died within six months. Still, Mazzuchi said, a person with a terminal illness can live well for years.
Hospice volunteers can assist people in those situations by helping them do chores, running errands for them, taking them to the store or by just sitting and chatting with them.
In early conversations, Shauver said it is sometimes best to avoid even saying the operative word in order to skirt negative associations.
Oftentimes, she said, healthcare professionals will go to patients whose functional status has declined and ask if they would be interested in a service that would be free to them and would allow a nurse to check on the individual as often as necessary and to be on-call 24 hours per day.
The service, the patients are told, would also allow for volunteers to offer assistance, run errands or just sit and chat.
“If you describe the service and they feel that it meets their needs, you can say it’s hospice,” Shauver said. “If you say the ‘H’ word first, people don’t hear everything that goes along with it.”
Hospice services are covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance. Additionally, both Lake Superior Hospice and U.P. Home, Health and Hospice provide hospice care free of charge for those without coverage of any kind.
Those interested in learning more about hospice services or about volunteer opportunities in the Marquette area can call Lake Superior Hospice at 906-225-7760 and U.P. Home, Health and Hospice at 906-225-4545.
Kyle Whitney can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250.
NMU Hockey Meet & Greet at Jacobetti – Sponsored by Lake Superior Hospice
MARQUETTE — Veterans in Marquette spent some time on Saturday with a bit of a younger generation: the NMU Wildcat Hockey Team. They spent time getting to know the veterans at the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans.
The players autographed their season schedules for the veterans and talked about things ranging from hockey to living in Marquette to fighting in wars.
“It was pretty cool to talk to a couple of them and just see where they came from, their roots,” said Team Captain Justin Florek. “I talked to a couple people who said they played hockey back in the ’40s, and it’s just really cool that they love hockey. They come to our games every now and then, and it’s really special to be here for them.”
Lake Superior Hospice helped organize the event.
Lake Superior Hospice to Sponsor NMU Wildcat Hockey for Jacobetti Meet and Greet
NMU Wildcat Hockey Meet and Greet for Jacobetti Residents
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University Wildcat Hockey Team will be making an appearance at the D.J. Jacobetti Home for Veterans at 1 p.m. in the Recreation Room on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011. The meet and greet is being sponsored and organized by Lake Superior Hospice. Jacobetti residents will be able to meet the players from the team, receive autographs and talk with the players about the hockey season.
NMU is currently 5-6-3 on the season. The ‘Cats are off until Dec. 2-3 when they host the Miami RedHawks at the Berry Events Center.
Tickets for all home hockey games may be purchased at any NMU Ticket outlet, by phone at 906-227-1032 or online at http://tickets.nmu.edu/
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Bells for Hospice – Raising Awareness
Lake Superior Hospice in collaboration with Upper Peninsula Home Health and Hospice hosted “Bells for Hospice” to kick off National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. The event aims to raise awareness and honor the lives of those who have passed away under hospice care.
Bells for Hospice
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Managing Your Grief During the Holiday Season
The Spiritual Care Team at Lake Superior Hospice is offering a time of discussion and dialogue for anyone experiencing the loss of a loved one. These outings will help people dealing with grief to learn how to plan ahead, how to accept their limitations, and how to take care of themselves.
“After Suicide Community Drop-In” – an opportunity for conversation, coffee and grief support
Lake Superior Hospice to Offer Support to those Affected by the Loss of a Loved one to Suicide…
“After Suicide Community Drop-In” – an opportunity for conversation, coffee and grief support
Marquette— Lake Superior Hospice wants to make sure that those in the local community who have faced, or are facing loss due to suicide have a safe and supportive environment to share their grief.
Losing someone to suicide is not easy. Lake Superior Hospice wants the community to know that there is help. Following the suicide of a community member we are aware that family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others may have concerns. Some may worry or have trouble processing thoughts and feelings. If you or someone you know has been affected by a recent loss in our community, we invite you and encourage you to stop by our office. Referral sources for additional support will be available.
The Lake Superior Hospice – Bereavement Program would like to extend an invitation to the “After Suicide Community Drop-In” – an opportunity for conversation, coffee and grief support.
The event is free of charge and open to the community at-large. It will be held at the
Lake Superior Hospice office at 914 W. Baraga Avenue on Wednesday, October 12 from 4-6pm.
For more information please contact Lake Superior Hospice at 906.225.7760.
Fall 2011 Volunteer Training Schedule
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