Warren and Dorothy live in an apartment in Friendship Village Retirement Community in Dayton, and both of them want Dorothy to stay there for as long as possible. "Luckily, we're being helped with that by Ohio's Hospice of Dayton," Warren reports.
Dorothy has been receiving hospice care since June. The staff from Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton made sure Dorothy received a hospital-style bed, so she is more comfortable. An aid arrives each day to the couple’s apartment, helping Dorothy get bathed and dressed, and a nurse visits twice a week.
"I'm also glad that healthcare people are so closely monitoring her condition and her abilities," says Warren. He adds that he's very grateful he can call Ohio's Hospice of Dayton any time.
Warren predicts that Dorothy eventually will need care at the Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton in-patient hospice house on Wilmington Pike, where there are 53 patient suites with 24/7 medical attention. “But for now they’re helping me keep her here at Friendship Village,” he says.
"Many people caring for a terminally ill person at home have us 'on standby' in case they can no longer manage," says Ruth Thomson, D.O., chief medical officer for Ohio's Hospice of Dayton. "If that time comes, we can provide a seamless move, without the person needing to first go to a hospital emergency room and wait for a transfer."
Too often, Dr. Thomson says, Ohio’s Hospice of Dayton only has the privilege of caring for patients for seven days or less. “We want people to know that although care in our in-patient hospice house is meant for short term needs, we provide care at home, whether that’s a house, assisted living apartment, or a nursing facility, prior to the time and if in-patient care is needed,” she says.
Warren, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force, shares that he and Dorothy had experience with Ohio's Hospice of Dayton years ago. Their only daughter, Pat, died at age 38 in 2006 after her breast cancer spread to her liver. "Pat is the one who told us to call Hospice," Warren recalls. "What the hospice people were able to do for us helped us through an extremely difficult time. Now they are here again for us."
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