Center4Hospice

Thank you to Dec-O-Art, Inc. for choosing us to be one of the recipients of the amazing gift of your time! We and the families visiting Esther's House truly appreciate what you did to help spruce up our campus. As far as the donation goes, we were just blown away by your generosity and commitment to the community!

**CENTER FOR HOSPICE CARE STAFF SPOTLIGHT** Hello! My name is Daniel Kassner, and I have been an IT Systems Engineer at Center for Hospice Care for almost 18 years. I have a beautiful wife and two amazing young kids at home ages 6 and 3. During my time in college, I needed to do an internship. My professor paired me with a company, but I didn’t believe that internship was a good fit. After continuing my search for an organization my professor said that Center for Hospice Care was looking for an intern. I felt that this opportunity was a good fit. I went to the interview with little knowledge or familiarity of what hospice and palliative care was. A few days later I started my journey as an intern learning more through experience than a classroom could ever teach. That internship then led to becoming a contracted employee and then onto a full-time position. My job title has changed several times over the years and my skill set to help and teach others has grown and developed as well. My main responsibility is making sure all on site equipment stays connected and running with as few interruptions as possible. Among my other responsibilities I get to assist new staff through the orientation process making sure they have all the computer equipment and access they need from day one. I enjoy the flexibility of my job and the co-workers I have the privilege of working with every day. My job isn't a job because it is my true passion. When I am not working, I am spending quality time with my family or learning more about amateur radio.

**CENTER FOR HOSPICE CARE STAFF SPOTLIGHT** Hello, I’m Karl Holderman the Chief Financial Officer at Center for Hospice Care. In 1996 I was between jobs and was unsure what the next chapter of my career would look like. I didn’t even know what hospice was when I answered an ad for Hospice of St. Joseph County. Twenty-eight years (and thousands of stories) later, I am a member of the senior leadership team. I am truly grateful everyday for the opportunity for not only my own growth, but the growth of the organization as well. To witness the growth and impact this organization has had over the years has been both inspiring and humbling. That impact is not just in our local communities. Through our partnership with the Palliative Care Association of Uganda, and through our work with Global Partners in Care, our impact has truly been worldwide. This does not happen without all of the amazing staff members (past, present, and future) who care for patients and families or who provide support behind the scenes. Without them, fulfillment of our mission to improve the quality of living does not happen.

**CENTER FOR HOSPICE CARE STAFF SPOTLIGHT** Hello, I’m Jessica Hunt and I am blessed to be a Hospice nurse. I started in the medical field at the age of 15 as CNA. While working as an RN at the hospital I had a colleague who approached me about coming to work for Center for Hospice Care. I had never imagined working in hospice. I interviewed with CHC and thought I would give it a chance. I celebrated my 9 year work anniversary with CHC in May. I didn't choose hospice, hospice chose me, and I believe that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be! Coming to CHC, I realized that despite my 18-year medical background, my understanding of hospice was limited. Hospice services offer a wide range of support, including educational, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and financial assistance, to patients and their loved ones, allowing them to live their best lives until the end. As hard as it can be to imagine, death is the only sure thing in life. I get to support people during a vulnerable time and I strive to make patients’ final days peaceful and comfortable on their terms. I’ve been taught tremendous valuable life lessons from my visits with patients. I feel honored and privileged to support my patients and families along their journey while being fortunate to work among some of the most amazing and compassionate colleagues.

**CENTER FOR HOSPICE CARE STAFF SPOTLIGHT** Hello, my name is Steve Nani. I was born in California to a father who was a Cardiologist and mother who was a Registered Nurse. I was the fourth of six children and we were raised in Roman Catholic grade schools, high schools, and universities. I always got the message that our lives were to be lived in the “service of others.” After college, I entered Seminary and learned more clearly that to be service to others is to be service to the God in whom I believe. I entered religious life after college and was in the Master Divinity Program at the University of Notre Dame. We learned the Vatican II theology of the Catholic experience. We read the likes of Rev. Richard McBrien Sr, Joan Chittister, Dr. James Cone Sr, Elizabeth Johnson CSJ, and Rev Donald Cozzens among others. I then took a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education and after that I completed a Clinical Pastoral Education Residency at St Joseph Regional Hospital during the 1991 and 1992 year. The experience of my Clinical Pastoral Education was a great experience for me in learning my skills for ministry and operative theology for which I live and work. At the end of my Clinical Pastoral Education training my Supervisor for that training was Mr. Alan Bowman. Through Mr. Bowman and my peers in CPE I was offered a position at the Hospice of St. Joseph County in July of 1992. Since I began working at what is now rebranded ‘Center for Hospice Care’ I have felt this was the best ministry I could ever experience. A dear pastor friend told me in 1992 to never leave Hospice. A different pastor from Nappanee Missionary Church came to our Inpatient Unit, Raclin House a few years ago to see one of their church members. I introduced myself as the Chaplain to this patient and family. I was unaware that one of the pastors of Napannee Missionary Church was present. This pastor stood up and introduced himself. He said to me “Don’t you have the best ministry in the world!” I can say with my whole heart and soul that I feel this is the best ministry I could have ever had. I had been a Holy Cross Religious for nineteen years when in 2004 I left religious life because I felt ministry at the Center for Hospice Care was the better ministry for me. I feel enormously blessed and fortunate to work at the Center for Hospice Care for the many years that I have. I have felt blessed to work with all the many people I have worked with and still currently work with. I look forward to continue to working at Center for Hospice Care and with the many gifted people who share in this work.

**CENTER FOR HOSPICE CARE STAFF SPOTLIGHT** Hello! My name is Nichole Summe. I have been a RN Case Manager at CHC for a total of 8 years. I have a wonderful husband, 4 children, and 2 bonus daughters. If you would have asked me in my younger nursing years if I ever thought that I would be a Hospice nurse, my response would have been “no”. Fast forward to now, and I would tell you that I see myself retiring at CHC as a Hospice nurse. Being a Hospice nurse has truly been the most rewarding job I have had. I love teaching and educating families to provide end of life care which then allows patients to stay out of the hospital and in the comfort of their home. End-of life is a beautiful experience and I truly feel privileged to be a part of it. Getting to be a part of such an intimate time with patients and their families is truly a blessing. Every patient has their own story and journey, and I am honored to be a part of so many!

At Center for Hospice Care, we care for patients wherever they call home. But when a patient's symptoms need to be more closely managed, we also offer two Medicare-certified inpatient units – Esther's House in Elkhart and the Ernestine M. Raclin House in Mishawaka – as a "home away from home." Feel at home with spacious private patient rooms and 24-hour visitation – including pets – and areas for family to gather and share meals. https://lnkd.in/g-WdVkbA

**CENTER FOR HOSPICE CARE STAFF SPOTLIGHT** Hi, I’m Laura Lethbridge, RNCM (case manager) and I’ve been with CHC for 7.5 years now. People often ask me how can I do this job? I just smile and tell them “this IS my purpose”, I have no doubt this is exactly what I should be doing in my life. From the age of 16, I’ve taken care of family members, neighbors and friends. It has also been a great privilege of mine to have been asked by my co workers to take care of their loved ones when they were in our hospice care. I pray every morning that God will help me; He will bless every patient I care for with my presence, my words, my hands, my compassion. I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many different people. Holding the hand of a dying patient, praying with the family for their loved one, educating a caregiver about medications, changes in the body and what to watch for, or sometimes, it’s just a shoulder to cry on. I never know what the family dynamics will be when I walk through the door of a new patient, but it is a privilege to be invited into someone’s home at such an important, difficult, emotional time in their life. I absolutely love what I do, and I work really hard. But I like to have fun too! I love to read, soak up the sun, watch movies, grill and travel. I’ve been married for 37 years to my wonderful husband who makes me laugh often. Believe me, having this job, laughter is invaluable. I have four beautiful, adult children and three fun grandchildren. So, if I’m not working or hanging out with friends in Indiana, I’m often in Minnesota, Michigan or Tennessee spending time with loved ones. Life is too short to not enjoy what you’re doing every day. Find YOUR purpose. LOVE what you do. USE your gifts. I never go to bed on Sunday night dreading Monday morning. I go to bed on Sunday night, looking forward to Monday morning. I am truly blessed to touch the lives I do, hoping I can make a difference. Enjoy your day, Laura ????

**CENTER FOR HOSPICE CARE STAFF SPOTLIGHT** Hi everyone, I am Cathy Linder. I was looking for full-time employment when I was hired as the Accounting Assistant at Center for Hospice Care in 2017. I work in Accounts Payable and enjoy it so much! Besides my regular duties I have had the opportunity to help some of our patients resolve issues with their medical bills. The CHC campus is amazing. It is located on the St Joseph River next to Battell Park, it is ‘state of the art’ location and building. It is welcoming and peaceful to our patients, their family members and of course all the employees that work so hard to help them. I am privileged to work here and am proud and honored to be a small part of the wonderful work that is done here to help people in a most difficult time.

**CENTER FOR HOSPICE CARE STAFF SPOTLIGHT** Hi, my name is Nick Doyle, and I am the IT Systems Analyst for Center For Hospice Care. I have been working for Center For Hospice Care for the past 13 years and absolutely love my job. I have been surrounded by information technology since a young age, graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Informatics and began my IT career in the business sector. At that time, my wife was an RN and even before she became one, during her studying in college, I became very interested in the healthcare industry. About a year after I started my first career out of college, the business I worked for was dissolved and I knew this was the perfect time to look for an IT career in healthcare. I am so blessed that Center For Hospice Care was looking to add another person to their IT team. I didn’t know much about hospice when I first started, but quickly learned quite a bit about the care and compassion our care staff provides to our patients. Being able to work with such fantastic people, in multiple disciplines, who genuinely care and provide the necessary services to our patients to improve the quality of life is very humbling. I am grateful every day that I get to provide innovation through IT to support our staff’s needs and help them be as efficient as possible while using the technology that is required for them to complete their job, so that they can concentrate on delivering the exceptional patient care that they do.