UNSCRIPTED: Stillwater Hospice

Unscripted By Keith Edmonds
FWIS Contributing Writer

“HOSPICE CARE” what immediately comes to mind when you hear this word? I would think that thoughts of fear, nervousness, and frightening would be a few of the words that many of us would use to describe our thoughts. I would also share that when we hear that a friend or loved one is in need of Hospice services that the vast majority have no real working knowledge of what hospice means or even how vital they can be towards assisting families through what is a very difficult and at times confusing time for those immediately affected. In today's UNSCRIPTED I had the opportunity (through an assist from Mr. John Dortch) to spend some quality time with Bonnie Blackburn Penhollow who is the Director of Communications for Stillwater Hospice (formerly known as Visiting Nurse). She shared what their services offer, and how they partner with families to lend assistance during those very difficult and trying times as families help transition their (most times terminally ill) loved ones. She was very forthright and quietly explained what Stillwater Hospice has continually done for over 136 years in providing care and guidance (with love) for the residents within their community. Please enjoy reading the excerpts from our recent tabletalk....

UNSCRIPTED: First of all thank you for being a part of my column today! I’d like to start of by asking; Can you give us a “working definition” of what Hospice is, and what Stillwater offers families?

BBP: “Hospice is an insurance benefit that covers people who are in the last six months of a terminal illness. What we do is we provide medications, social support, as well as family and spiritual support as that patient goes through those last six months or so of life. What's interesting is that when people come on Hospice a lot of times they think it's just the last couple of days of life but in fact because it's a six month benefit there are a lot of alternative therapies that we can do like music and massage therapy, that help with the whole coming to terms with the end of life. So, Hospice to me is a beautiful time for families to come together and and share what they mean to each other, and we have social workers that help with that along with spiritual care counselors along with our nurses and aides who assist with the physical aspects of the disease process so that the patient is as comfortable as possible during during their journey”.

UNSCRIPTED: Because I’ve had family members go through, and help us through this process, I know that it takes a certain type of individual to be able to do this type of work. With that being said, what drew you to Stillwater Hospice Care?

BBP: “It was back in 2000 and I just thought it would be kind of an interesting story and because nobody really talked about Hospice at the time. I followed a man named Andy Candor who was in charge of what was what used to be Visiting Nurse. I worked with him at the Journal Gazette at one time and I thought; Hey this would be kind of an interesting story, nobody really knows about Hospice and I had somebody from my family that had gone to Hospice. After doing this story, Visiting Nurse let me go and follow a patient and see the therapies and view how the “inner workings” of Hospice worked. I was so intrigued that fast forward 15 years this position for Director of Communications opened up and I felt that gentleman tapping me on the shoulder impressing on me to apply so I did! It's just so soul fulfilling to be here to help people have peace and comfort at the end of life and to me it is an incredibly valuable and special kind of work that I get to do daily.”

UNSCRIPTED: Walk us through what a typical day in the life of a Communications Director at Stillwater Hospice looks like....

BBP: “Over the years because I'm the primary grant writer for the agency, I make sure that we have what we need (funding) so we don't have to turn anyone away, whether they have insurance or not. We treat people at the Rescue Mission and in our jails and try to meet people where they are in life. So, a typical day for me is coming in and seeing what grants I have to know and begin working on the ones that need my immediate attention as we are a non-profit service. I work with the various departments within Stillwater and have a hand in basically anything that has a Stillwater name on it.”

UNSCRIPTED: What is one main thing that you’d like to share about Hospice Care and its importance?

BBP: “Everyone has a right to choose their journey towards death and when you’re faced with how to handle news about your life having an “end date” that can be really scary for many of us. Hospice is designed to take away that fear. And though you can choose to fight, you can also choose to live the end of your life on YOUR terms. No more hospital visits and no more dialysis treatments if you so choose. Hospice provides alternatives to the traditional way of passing and that’s where we come in. We want our residents to feel loved and cared for as if they were our own family members because in many ways we become that close to them.”

UNSCRIPTED: I would be remiss if I didn’t allow you to share about your beautiful Grief Center located on this campus. Please share with us its importance to Stillwater Hospice.

BPP: “ So, on our campus we have 3 services. Hospice Care, Palliative Care (which is basically Hospice care but you're still getting treatment for your illness) and Grief Support. Our grief support is something that's mandated by Medicare however we have taken that challenge and run with it. We have the Peggy F. Murphy Community Center (which is celebrating 10 years in 2025 of service to the community). We've seen a huge increase in the number of people that come through because it's open to anyone, any adult in the community! About 60% of the people who come in have no Hospice involvement but they might have lost someone to a sudden death, accident, suicide, or overdose homicide. We've seen 13 homicide families this past year and provide 4 grief counselors who are all trained in end of life kind of issues. Our Grief Center has served over 16,000 people since it opened in 2015 and continue to do amazing work daily. I am so fortunate to work in a community that will love and respect your loved ones as they do here at Stillwater Hospice.”