Ride For Life: Hospice reaching out to ALS patients

By Heather Renshaw, Special to the Times-News September 14, 2002 Piedmont, NC

The Hospice and Palliative Care Center of Alamance/Caswell wants people to know its mission.

To do that, the United Way agency is developing several new ideas to let people know what services it offers.

Hospice's mission is to help the terminally ill live as fully and comfortably as possible and to provide continuing support for their families. It provides that support through home visits and the Hospice Home.

"There is just something sacred about our mission," said Peter Barcus, newly returned chief executive officer of Hospice. Barcus was CEO from 1991 to 1997 before he left to work for a hospice in Las Vegas. He returned to Burlington last May.

One of the new ideas Hospice is developing is a "Hospice Eligibility Guidelines" booklet.

"Illness is an equal opportunity killer," Barcus said. "We served 25 percent of all people who died last year in Alamance County. We want to get the message out that Hospice isn't just for people who have cancer, but other illnesses as well."

The booklet focuses on non-cancer diagnoses; illnesses such as acute renal failure, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, dementia, HIV and the No. 1 killer in the United States, heart disease.

In the coming months the Hospice staff will be visiting doctors' offices to talk with physicians about the booklet and the use of Hospice as a resource for patients who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness.

"We want the public to know that we are here to serve any illness that does not have a cure," Barcus said.

Hospice is also developing a sitter service. The service will provide a certified nursing assistant to a patient with a working caregiver, up to 20 hours per week.

The service is designed to help patients whose main caregiver must continue to work during the family member's illness. A patient must have a working caregiver in order to qualify for the service. The program is expected to be in place by late September or early October.

The program will help support not only the patient, but the patient's family as well.

Hospice is always in need of volunteers, too.

"We have a fantastic volunteer base of individuals who give their time and talent to help fulfill our mission," Barcus said.

One noticeable volunteer-driven event is the annual Hospice Flea Market. This year's flea market, held in early August, raised more than $265,000.

"We had an estimated 600 volunteers over a two-day period who helped make the Flea Market such a success," Barcus said. "For many of our volunteers it is an annual tradition. They even have name badges with 'years of service' marked on them."

For more information on services provided by the Hospice & Palliative Care Center of Alamance-Caswell, call 532-0100.

This story is part of a series profiling United Way of Alamance County agencies.