Letter of thanks: To Bartlett hospice team

Earlier this year I joined a small group of local physicians who support the Bartlett Hospice Team. Every two weeks the team meets around a small table in a crowded office downtown above the Foodland IGA to review all of our patients, as well as those who have passed away during the two weeks since the previous meeting. Every single meeting I have come away with awe and gratitude for the incredible people doing this work.

My wife is a nurse midwife, and I have so much respect for the doulas, nurses, midwives and physicians who help mothers and their families through the intense process of childbirth. End-of-life care is obviously the other end of the spectrum, and something that each of us will very likely need when our time comes. As with childbirth, sometimes the process of dying can be relatively peaceful and even beautiful, but it can also be really hard and difficult. Every meeting as we review the patients, I am humbled by the hospice team's compassion and dedication as they strive to make the final days of our patients the best that they can be and accompany the patients and their families through to the end.

Our local hospice team is small but dedicated. A true band of brothers and sisters who do incredible work. Currently the team consists of a nurse manager, three nurse case managers, a social worker, a chaplain, a volunteer coordinator, and several amazing volunteers. The range of individuals and situations that they deal with is incredible. Some individuals go on hospice after long stays at Wildflower Court or the Pioneer home, where there is a lot of on-hand nursing support; many others are living with family and also have good support networks; and some are living alone, often in difficult circumstances and with minimal support outside of the hospice team. Sometimes the work involves visiting someone with profound dementia, reading to him or her, playing music, holding a hand or facilitating a visit from a pet (our chaplain's dog Fiona is one of our most beloved hospice workers). Other times the work is much harder. When I listen to the nurses describe some of the harder deaths, I wonder how many of us could do what they do. And they do it over and over, helping our fellow Juneauites out of this world just like the birth teams at the hospital and birth center help new ones in.

Murray Buttner

Medical Director, Bartlett Hospice