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Hospice Austin’s Blog
Night Shift
When the sun goes down, it gets scary for families of patients on hospice care, according to Hospice Austin On-Call Team Leader Aimee Alexander. Symptoms seem to get worse. People are tired and upset. The on-call staff working nights and weekends have to be prepared for anything, usually a crisis or a death. They are the calvary.
Welcome, Dana!
Herb Dyer is transitioning to a role as a strategic planning consultant for our organization while Dana Joslin takes over as Hospice Austin’s Interim Executive Director. Not only does Dana have a wealth of experience in the healthcare industry – serving 25 years as director of clinical and administrative operations with the St. David’s Healthcare system – she also has a long history with this organization. In fact, she’s been involved with Hospice Austin since its inception.
The MOST Time of Year
Instead of this being the most wonderful time of the year, perhaps it’s really just the MOST time of the year, as a favorite podcaster of mine likes to say. No month insists on cheerfulness more than this one. It’s as if everything has been turned up a few notches. If finances are a struggle, they may feel even more so right now. If you are grieving, the intensity of that experience may be heightened. If you are traveling, anxiety about flights and road conditions may be increased. Even if you are excited about the season, the shopping, cooking, hosting, and special events can feel impossible to manage on top of regular responsibilities. If everything feels like too much and you feel like not enough, I promise you are not alone.
Joey Jimenez – A Season for Caring
When Joe Jimenez was dying after suffering a heart attack and stroke in 2016, his 21-year-old son, Joey, promised his father that he would remain at home to look after his mother and younger brother. It was a responsibility he took seriously.
What’s Your WHY – Brent Annear
I am honored to serve on the Hospice Austin Operating Board of Directors for many reasons.
First, Hospice Austin has Camp Brave Heart. I was drawn to volunteer at the bereavement camp for children who lost a loved one. Having lost my mom when I was a teenager, I can empathize with these kids’ loss and grief, so helping at camp seemed natural.
It’s All About the Service
Herb Dyer served a combined 9 years on Hospice Austin’s Operating Board and three years on Hospice Austin’s Fund Board. When the current Operating Board of Directors asked him recently if he would consider accepting a position as Hospice Austin’s Interim Executive Director, he agreed. It’s still all about the service.
Tour Hospice Austin’s Christopher House
We want to give our community the opportunity to tour our beloved Christopher House, as well as learn more about the people inside these walls who bring comfort to our patients and families! Here are just a few of these heroes.
Partners in Caring
Over the past six years, Hospice Austin RN Shelly Robichaux has cared for close to 100 patients at Avalon Memory Care, an assisted living community in Cedar Park. Shelly is part of Hospice Austin’s Partners Team, who cares exclusively for patients in skilled nursing facilities and assisted living communities.
The Brave Heart Tree
Once upon a time, there was a small oak sapling living in a beautiful oak grove near the Blanco River that runs through John Knox Ranch. The sapling was young and tender and soaked up all the warm sunshine, refreshing rain, and good soil until gradually it grew into a sturdy young tree, hearty and strong.
One night, however, a terrible storm swept through the ranch. There was lashing rain, booming thunder and streaks of lightening that lit up the sky.
House Calls
A patient recently observed that Hospice Austin physicians are like the doctors in times gone by. Anne* has been on our service for almost a year. During that time, she has been in various settings: home, long-term care facility, and Hospice Austin’s Christopher House.
“I didn’t think they did things like this anymore – it’s like the old doctors that used to make house calls,” Anne said. “You form relationships. It means a lot to me, that there’s someone in this world that cares.”
