Craven Hospice turns 40

Oct. 21--Craven County Hospice is celebrating 40 years this year -- 40 years of bringing meaning and comfort to the end of life.

Started in a small building near present-day CarolinaEast in 1980, hospice was at the time a fairly new concept in healthcare... "A new health care dimension," a paper released on its founding stated, "fast becoming a part of the medical communities throughout North Carolina."

The definition of hospice then was pretty close to what it is today. "Where would you go or what would you do if you were told that you have cancer or another terminal illness that is approaching the end stage?" that same paper asks. "If you were going to lose control of your body and lifestyle? If you might be facing your last days in a hospital or nursing facility?"

What if you wanted to spend your last days at home, with loved ones, making active decisions about your care? What if you needed someone to guide your family through the process, help you achieve your final goals, and handle the details your stressed loved ones aren't ready to face?

That's why hospice is there.

"They wanted to serve a need, because nobody else was," according to office manager Tammy Petteway. She is Craven Hospice's current "old-timer," having begun almost 30 years ago in 1992 when it still operated out of its original building (it now resides with the county health department at 2818 Neuse Boulevard). "Some of the original people were still there," she said, including then-director Alyene Pollack. "They were some of the smartest people I've ever worked with," she said.

"It was an alternate to being in a care facility," current director Clayton Gaskins explained, adding, "It still is."

The main differences in hospice in 1980 and 2020? Technology -- everyone has tablets to record notes and information, and not the Big Chief kind -- lots of increased regulations, the number of staff and, especially, the number of families being cared for.

Hospice is a team approach that includes a medical director -- palliative care doctor Bob Fisher -- a nurse case manager, an aide, social worker, a chaplain and volunteers.

Hospice not only tends to the dying patient's needs, but also to the needs of the family. Early on they'll guide the family through what to expect and help made decisions regarding the patient's care and ultimate death. The volunteers serve a vital role, assisting the patients as companions and friends in activities or just sitting with them for a couple of hours to give the primary caregivers a break to shop or getaway or even nap.

"When I get the form for admission, I call the volunteers and let them know what the patients are interested in," Rachel Hines, volunteer services coordinator, said, "whether they are mobile and want to walk around or work on their life stories or just sit and watch the water."

Some volunteers also work with check-ins -- calls made to each family on Thursdays to be sure they have what they'll need to get through the weekend.

Often, Gaskins said, his hospice team will work toward definite goals for the patients -- some have wanted to travel to visit family, and Craven Hospice will serve as temporary care for such patients visiting outside the area or make sure local patients have temporary, outside hospice care where they travel. The team has also worked to bring family together -- and sometimes, to bring feuding families to resolution and closure as well.

Dianne Brideson, clinical supervisor, noted that "the hospice benefit you get also pays for medication related to illness and the medical equipment needed in the homes and personal supplies. Hospital beds, oxygen, etc. is covered by hospice: It takes a lot of the stress off the family knowing you're going to provide."

Hospice workers have helped dying mothers write letters to their children and have helped families reluctant to discuss and accept a loved one's approaching death to open up and talk.

Patients are often sent to hospice when a doctor determines they likely have six months or less to live, but there are no set rules. And, according to Gaskins, patients can be on hospice for days, weeks, months or even years, so long as their condition is deteriorating. On occasion, patients have "beaten the system" and get better during hospice care as well.

On average, patients remain under care for 73 days.

Craven Hospice does not turn anyone away, no matter their financial status, generally accepting what insurance or Medicaid will cover. The team has cared for patients from babies to centenarians. They have cared for the religious and non-religious, with people in homes, facilities, on boats and even the homeless in the streets. "We accept them where they are," Brideson said.

Upon death, a nurse comes out to the home to support the family and arrange for the funeral home to pick up the loved one.

Afterwards, Hospice stays with the family for 13 months, calling and checking with them, giving advice. Hospice also hosts survivor support groups for the bereaved.

Gaskins said that, as positive and uplifting as their work is, "it can be very draining on the staff." And "we start every day with a meeting so we can decompress, talk."

Craven Hospice takes pride in its non-profit status and local emphasis. "We're your hometown hospice," Brideson said, adding that, while many hospice organizations give their nurses a caseload of 12-15 patients, Craven keeps theirs to 8 to 10, "because that way we can keep more time with our patients."

"Hospice is a concept not a building," the 1980 paper announcing the program's beginning said.

As Brideson put it, "You have to love hospice. It's a calling."

For information on the program or volunteering, call Creaven Hospice at 252-636-4930.

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