Best Medical Service Provider, Best Thrift Store, Best Place to Volunteer: Hospice of Yuma

Caring for terminally ill people involves more than making them comfortable in their final moments.

The occasion presents times of trial for their friends and family members, who may need a hand providing the bedside care with their loved ones. Or who may need financial advice in dealing with medical costs. Or who may simply need some comforting words to help them come to terms with the death of a loved one.

For nearly three decades, Hospice of Yuma has provided home-based care to the terminally ill as well as support to their families, and for the year 2010, Yuma-area residents honored the nonprofit agency in several categories of Yuma's Best, an annual Yuma Sun poll of readers' favorite businesses, services and entertainment venues.

A majority of poll respondents picked Hospice of Yuma as the Best Place to Volunteer, as the best place to provide Best Public Services and as the Best Medical Service Provider. And the Hospice thrift store won first place in two categories: Best Thrift Store and Best Overall Customer Service.

Also Hospice of Yuma's Roping Roundup, an annual event that raises funds for the organization, finished second in the category of Best Charity Event.

“It's a privilege and an honor to serve, to serve our community,” said John Williams, executive director of Hospice of Yuma. “We're there to support them.”

In a nutshell, the agency located at 1824 S. 8th Ave. provides home-based care to the terminally ill. But that description may oversimplify the role Hospice plays.

Hospice's full-time medical director of six years, Dr. Jeanne Elnadry, makes medical visits to the homes of the ill. She is assisted by Hospice's nurses and certified nursing assistants.

In addition, Hospice employs chaplains to assist the dying and their families, as well as a bereavement coordinator whose counseling helps relatives and friends deal with the loss of a loved one. Social workers, meanwhile, can help families find financial assistance to deal with mounting expenses that typically accompany the medical care.

In 2008, Hospice began offering these same services to the area's Spanish-speaking residents through its Camino de Compasion program, Williams noted.

Aside from the paid staff, Hospice also relies on numerous volunteers, who have the option of helping to provide in-home care to the terminally ill, working in Hospice's thrift shop or helping organize and stage other fund-raising activities to benefit the organization.

Hospice has as many as 250 volunteers at a time, he said, but can always use more.

“It's whatever people want to do. We welcome them with open arms.”

For more information about volunteering, call Hospice at 343-2222.