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| Dan Albury (right), a recreation therapist, cheers on Robert Hitchcock, 53, as he plays a boxing game on the Wii game console. ‘This is great, Hitchcock said. ‘I get exercise and fun at the same time. I get a kick out of it.’ JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
VA offers hospice care for veterans.
By JEFF M. HARDISON
jhardison@lakecityreporter.com
On a Sunday morning 67 years ago today, Japan invaded the U.S. Naval Station at Pearl Harbor — and the United States entered World War II.
Veterans from this and other wars have been helped through the years by an agency now known as Veterans Affairs.
The VA takes care of the medical needs of male and female veterans.
Many services are provided at the VA Medical Center in Lake City, which is part of a network that includes 19 Georgia counties and 33 Florida counties. This VA group includes the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville, and nine clinics in Valdosta, Saint Mary’s, Ga., Marianna, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Lecanto, Ocala and The Villages.
Among those services is hospice care. It has been offered here as a separate discipline for slightly more than five years now. Sharon Timmons is the nurse manager of the wing and she has been with the hospice part of the Lake City facility since even before it was in a 20-bed wing named “Serenity Place” in August 2003.
“Our goal is to provide
whatever it takes to make our veterans their happiest in the last days of their lives,” Timmons said.
While most of the patients are in hospice for end-of-life situations, there are a few patients who are helped with severe pain management issues, she said. The population ranges from 35 to 85 years old and includes both men and women.
An average of 125 patients have died in the hospice wing each year for the past five years, she said.
The primary goal is to make their final days as pleasant as possible.
“We meet the needs of the patients and families with a very comprehensive program to assure their comfort,” Timmons said.
A nursing staff of 21 certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses work with an interdisciplinary team of doctors, pharmacists, a social worker, a dietitian, a recreational therapist, a psychologist and a chaplain.
The team seeks to meet every physical, medical, emotional and spiritual need for the patients and families, Timmons said. Some people see working in the hospice wing as being very difficult, especially on the staff’s emotions.
“As a nurse working in hospice, you either love it or you hate it,” Timmons said. “For me it’s the most rewarding and successful time in my 25-year career. I’m not saying it’s easy. The rewards outweigh the challenges, though.
“We give so much to people at such a critical time of their lives. The appreciation that is shown to a nurse in hospice care is more than in any other part of the hospital.”
As a manager, Timmons said she finds it rewarding to know that in five years, there have been only two nurses who left hospice care from the 21-member staff.
The hospice staff meets with a psychologist weekly on an as-needed basis to help them deal with the emotions they feel as a result of their job, Timmons said.
As for how the VA helps veterans and their families at this point in their lives, the hospice unit is top-notch.
Patients are given recreational outlets to the extent that they can enjoy them, said Recreation Therapist Dan Albury.
Some people are able to get up and use a Wii — a video game that requires physical motion. They swing the controller and participate in tennis, bowling, boxing or golf. Other patients enjoy aroma therapy, listening to relaxation tapes, watching videos or playing board games.
The nursing staff has been taught how to use the Wii for those times when Albury is not on duty and a patient wants to play, he said.
During the Christmas season, Albury said he is takes some patients in a van to look at lights in neighborhoods around Lake City.
There is also a Veterans Last Wish Program. Patients have been taken to Disney World, given a new set of clothes, taken to a Mayo nursing home to visit with a spouse or other wishes, Timmons said.
Volunteer Service assists in regard to recreation, Albury added. They have provided pizza parties and ice cream socials and visited with patients.
Nicky Adams, assistant chief of Voluntary Service, said her 500-plus volunteers help in hospice and the other 29 different aspects of care at the VA Medical Center and clinics.
Volunteers help in the Internet cafe, assist with writing letters, read newspapers and books to patients, escort patients from rooms to diagnosis and therapy centers, stuff envelopes and care for plants in the patio area of the hospice wing.
Transportation is another large aspect of volunteer care, Adams said. In the past 12 months, volunteers transported 2,300 patients about 130,000 miles in vans between homes and medical facilities. Many of these patients would not have been served without this transportation, she said.
Adams is always looking for volunteers, she said. The number to call to volunteer is (386) 755-3016, extension 2365.
The Lake City VA Hospital officially became the Lake City VA Medical Center in 1978. It expanded its mission to include long term and geriatric care for veterans with the completion of a 120-bed Nursing Home Care Unit in 1985 which was expanded to 240 beds in 1995, the VA notes.
In March of 2000, a 12,600 square-foot addition was completed on top of the existing Outpatient Clinic. The new space houses two primary care teams with 16 exam rooms, according to the VA.
And so, as it has since early in the 20th Century, on this 67th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, veterans receive care at the VA Medical Center in Lake City. Hospice care is the final type of service given to many veterans every year here.
Veterans from this and other wars have been helped through the years by an agency now known as Veterans Affairs.
The VA takes care of the medical needs of male and female veterans.
Many services are provided at the VA Medical Center in Lake City, which is part of a network that includes 19 Georgia counties and 33 Florida counties. This VA group includes the Malcom Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville, and nine clinics in Valdosta, Saint Mary’s, Ga., Marianna, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Lecanto, Ocala and The Villages.
Among those services is hospice care. It has been offered here as a separate discipline for slightly more than five years now. Sharon Timmons is the nurse manager of the wing and she has been with the hospice part of the Lake City facility since even before it was in a 20-bed wing named “Serenity Place” in August 2003.
“Our goal is to provide
whatever it takes to make our veterans their happiest in the last days of their lives,” Timmons said.
While most of the patients are in hospice for end-of-life situations, there are a few patients who are helped with severe pain management issues, she said. The population ranges from 35 to 85 years old and includes both men and women.
An average of 125 patients have died in the hospice wing each year for the past five years, she said.
The primary goal is to make their final days as pleasant as possible.
“We meet the needs of the patients and families with a very comprehensive program to assure their comfort,” Timmons said.
A nursing staff of 21 certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses and registered nurses work with an interdisciplinary team of doctors, pharmacists, a social worker, a dietitian, a recreational therapist, a psychologist and a chaplain.
The team seeks to meet every physical, medical, emotional and spiritual need for the patients and families, Timmons said. Some people see working in the hospice wing as being very difficult, especially on the staff’s emotions.
“As a nurse working in hospice, you either love it or you hate it,” Timmons said. “For me it’s the most rewarding and successful time in my 25-year career. I’m not saying it’s easy. The rewards outweigh the challenges, though.
“We give so much to people at such a critical time of their lives. The appreciation that is shown to a nurse in hospice care is more than in any other part of the hospital.”
As a manager, Timmons said she finds it rewarding to know that in five years, there have been only two nurses who left hospice care from the 21-member staff.
The hospice staff meets with a psychologist weekly on an as-needed basis to help them deal with the emotions they feel as a result of their job, Timmons said.
As for how the VA helps veterans and their families at this point in their lives, the hospice unit is top-notch.
Patients are given recreational outlets to the extent that they can enjoy them, said Recreation Therapist Dan Albury.
Some people are able to get up and use a Wii — a video game that requires physical motion. They swing the controller and participate in tennis, bowling, boxing or golf. Other patients enjoy aroma therapy, listening to relaxation tapes, watching videos or playing board games.
The nursing staff has been taught how to use the Wii for those times when Albury is not on duty and a patient wants to play, he said.
During the Christmas season, Albury said he is takes some patients in a van to look at lights in neighborhoods around Lake City.
There is also a Veterans Last Wish Program. Patients have been taken to Disney World, given a new set of clothes, taken to a Mayo nursing home to visit with a spouse or other wishes, Timmons said.
Volunteer Service assists in regard to recreation, Albury added. They have provided pizza parties and ice cream socials and visited with patients.
Nicky Adams, assistant chief of Voluntary Service, said her 500-plus volunteers help in hospice and the other 29 different aspects of care at the VA Medical Center and clinics.
Volunteers help in the Internet cafe, assist with writing letters, read newspapers and books to patients, escort patients from rooms to diagnosis and therapy centers, stuff envelopes and care for plants in the patio area of the hospice wing.
Transportation is another large aspect of volunteer care, Adams said. In the past 12 months, volunteers transported 2,300 patients about 130,000 miles in vans between homes and medical facilities. Many of these patients would not have been served without this transportation, she said.
Adams is always looking for volunteers, she said. The number to call to volunteer is (386) 755-3016, extension 2365.
The Lake City VA Hospital officially became the Lake City VA Medical Center in 1978. It expanded its mission to include long term and geriatric care for veterans with the completion of a 120-bed Nursing Home Care Unit in 1985 which was expanded to 240 beds in 1995, the VA notes.
In March of 2000, a 12,600 square-foot addition was completed on top of the existing Outpatient Clinic. The new space houses two primary care teams with 16 exam rooms, according to the VA.
And so, as it has since early in the 20th Century, on this 67th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, veterans receive care at the VA Medical Center in Lake City. Hospice care is the final type of service given to many veterans every year here.
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| Blank-Fest warms up on Dec. 20 | Tickets available for New Year’s Eve ball |
