STEWARDSHIP REPORT SUMMER 2018
The Sussman House: A Hospice Home for Midcoast Maine
The vision for the Sussman House began with a community-wide recognition of the need for compassionate care and a home-like environment in which people could comfortably live out their final days. The overwhelming generosity of community members, local businesses, and Maine-focused foundations has made this vision a reality. continued on back page … Community volunteers are so appreciated. Since the House opened, 116 volunteers have donated nearly 13,000 hours of service. Whether welcoming visitors, preparing a warm meal, or providing compassionate support at the time it is most needed, Sussman House volunteers, like Kathy Beck of Rockland (right), enhance the quality of care immeasurably.
EV E RY GI FT MAT T ER S. EVERY D O LLA R C O UNT S . With charitable donations from generous individuals, businesses, and foundations, the Pen Bay Waldo Healthcare Foundation provides critical funding to keep quality care close to home. Serving 80,000 people in the Midcoast region of Knox and Waldo counties, the Foundation helps fund institutional priorities at Waldo County General Hospital, Pen Bay Medical Center, Quarry Hill, Waldo County Dental Care, Knox Center, Belfast Public Health Nursing Association, and the Sussman House. All donations to the Pen Bay Waldo Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of federal and state law.
Palliative Care and Hospice Services: Understanding the Difference Pen Bay Medical Center (PBMC) and Waldo County General Hospital (WCGH), with our community partners MaineHealth Care at Home (MHCAH) and Hospice Volunteers, offer a wide range of palliative care and hospice services to support patients and families facing serious illness. While the goal of both types of care is to improve quality of life, there are important differences:
PALLI AT IV
û May be provided at home, in a doctor’s office, hospital, or hospice facility
û Are delivered by interdisciplinary care teams û Provide comfort care û Offer relief of pain and other symptoms related to serious illness û Reduce stress and provide emotional and spiritual support for patients and families
û May be provided to individuals with a terminal illness who are in the last six months of life û Excludes curative treatment
ICES RV
û May be integrated with curative treatment
û Improve quality of life for patients living with serious illness
IC SE
û Available to those facing a serious or lifelimiting illness; ideally begins at diagnosis
BOTH
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û May be offered wherever a patient calls home, or at a hospice facility
“Our ultimate goal, after all, is not a good death but a good life to the very end.” — ATUL GAWANDE, B e i n g M o r t a l : M e d i c i n e a n d W h a t M a t t e r s
For more information about our Palliative Care Program, please contact Dr. Lauren Michalakes at 207-921-8969 (Pen Bay Medical Center) or 207-505-4342 (Waldo County General Hospital).
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For more information about the Sussman House and Hospice Services in the Midcoast region, please contact Heidi McCaffery at 1-800-600-4867 (MaineHealth Care at Home).
90% of people say that talking to their loved ones about end-of-life care is important. 27% have actually done so. THE CONVERSATION PROJECT NATIONAL SURVEY, 2013
End of Life is Never Certain. Our Wishes Should Be.
Jane Conrad and Ken Payment
Educating Healthcare Providers
Jane Conrad and her husband, Ken Payment, retired to Tenants Harbor. Last year, as Ken’s serious illness progressed, Jane knew they needed more support in charting a path for the months ahead. “I feel tremendously indebted to Dr. Michalakes and the palliative care team at PBMC. They helped us speak openly about Ken’s end-of-life choices. Sharing his end-of‑life journey was the most profound experience of my life—Ken was an extraordinary role model. His dignity and courage in facing and accepting that his life was coming to an end enabled him to make choices about what his final days would be like. That he was willing and able to be, as he put it, ‘the Captain of his own ship’ was a tremendous gift to me, his children, and grandchildren, who were present at the Sussman House during his final days.” Jane believes that it is important for people to talk about their end-of-life wishes. To this end, she directed memorial gifts in Ken’s name to support palliative care education.
Last year, the Palliative Care Program of PBMC and WCGH received a grant from the Davis Family Foundation to deliver a year-long initiative, Teaching a Community to Talk about End‑of‑Life Care. Under the leadership of Dr. Lauren Michalakes, the project engaged approximately 900 health care professionals, elder care providers, hospice volunteers, and community members in training events and community discussions. In May, PBMC hosted Harriet Warshaw of the nationally-recognized The Conversation Project for a day-long conference. Eighty‑five health and elder care professionals and volunteers from across the Midcoast region gained skills to ensure that end‑of‑life wishes of patients and loved ones are expressed and respected. Harriet Warshaw (left) with Dr. Lauren Michalakes
the sussman house
PEN B AY WA LD O HEA LTHC A R E FO U N DAT IO N BOA R D O F TR US T E E S
… continued from front page
The Sussman House is dedicated to supporting patients and their loved ones during their end-of-life journey. Since opening in December 2014, the Sussman House has cared for 450 patients and their families. Thanks to the generosity of community members, the Sussman House is open to everyone, regardless of insurance or ability to pay for services.
Joanne Billington, Rockland Chair Ann Bresnahan, Hope Mark Breton, Rockport Micki Colquhoun, Camden Jane Conrad, Tenants Harbor Mark Eggena, MD, Rockport Dale Kuhnert, Belfast Jane Merrill, Camden Caroline Morong, Camden Nathan Perkins, Camden Mark Fourre, MD, Camden CEO, Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital PEN B AY WA LD O H E A LT H C A R E FOU ND ATI O N S TAF F Eleanor Willmann, Vice President of Development 207-921-6710
“The Sussman House was wonderful for my husband’s final days. I could not think of anything that could have been better. How fortunate we are to have the Sussman House in our community.”
Elaine and Gary Witt of Northport, Maine
—Elaine Witt, whose husband of 60 years, Gary Witt, passed away at the Sussman House this past January at the age of 91.
Lynn Cole, Senior Director of Campaign Initiatives 207-921-6714 Sherry Gagne, Director of Prospect Management and Research 207-921-6711 Jamie Geretz, Development Officer 207- 921-6707 Jody Herbert, Development Information Specialist 207- 921-6713 Amy McNaugton, Director of Annual Fund and Operations 207-921-6716 Deb Schilder, Director of Grants and Foundation Relations 207-921-6712
www.PenBayWaldoFoundation.org 207-921-6713 Post Office Box 287 Belfast, Maine 04915 22 White Street Rockland, Maine 04841
At the Pen Bay Waldo Healthcare Foundation we celebrate your generosity. One hundred percent of your gift will be applied to improve healthcare in Midcoast Maine. Please use the enclosed envelope to make your tax-deductible contribution today.
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