Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Saratogan Paula Weinkoop and her brother were helped by hospice programs, and now she's helping others.
Saratoga woman has a 'hospice heart'
Personal experience introduced her to concept
By Sandy Sims
"You have no idea the extent of need in a family when one of their members is terminally ill," says Saratogan Paula Weinkoop, the funding chairwoman for Hospice of the Valley (HOV). And she knows only too well about that need.
Weinkoop's brother died of AIDS 12 years ago in Atlanta, Ga., her home town. She received the call from her parents that he wasn't doing well and flew to Atlanta. Luckily, she had a nanny who could stay with her two young children because she didn't return to Saratoga until after her brother's death five weeks later.
Weinkoop didn't know about hospice until her brother asked her to take him home from the hospital. When she learned about Atlanta's hospice program, she called them for help.
"We had a social worker, a doctor, a hospital bed, pain drugs, a chaplain and nurses all helping us," Weinkoop says. "I can never repay their kindness." After all that kindness, Weinkoop contracted what HOV people call a "hospice heart"--people who have been touched by hospice and want to give back.
A little over three years ago, Weinkoop's friend Audrey McClean, another Saratogan, suggested Weinkoop join the board of HOV, which last year celebrated its 20th anniversary. Being on the board appealed to Weinkoop because she says she was unable to volunteer with patients. "That takes a special kind of person," Weinkoop says.
"What I can do is give a great party," she adds, which is just one of the things Weinkoop has done as the funding chair for HOV's $2 million budget. She's giving one of those parties on June 4, at the Hayes Mansion in San Jose. It's an annual HOV fundraiser, and the western-theme gig is sold out to 400 attendees. Many of them also have a "hospice heart."
Attendees may donate money in several ways.
After a silent auction and during the oral auction, the auctioneer will stop the proceedings for several minutes. He'll ask if anyone wants to pledge $100 or more to Fund a Need.
"Almost everyone holds up their paddles," Weinkoop says. Last year the Fund a Need money went to CarePartners, a new HOV program that provides help for terminally ill patients who don't have family members to care for them. The year before, the Fund a Need money bought hospital beds. This year the money is earmarked for an 18-year-old high school graduate whose mother died at home. The girl was left alone to care for her younger brother and wants to go to college. Without financial help that dream is remote.
HOV is recognized by National Hospice Organization as an outstanding hospice program. That might have something to do with how well the staff is cared for, too. "The staff receives lots of internal support," Weinkoop says. They meet weekly to handle the burn-out issues and sometimes bring in an outside specialist to help deal with stress. All of this adds up to low turnover and little burn out for some 40 paid staff, plus volunteers.
Weinkoop recalls how the hospice organization in Atlanta genuinely cared about her family. "There wasn't a thing they wouldn't do for us." Being home with your family is more peaceful and reassuring, Weinkoop says. "You can't get that kind of individual care in a hospital."
Hospice is becoming more known in the community, more accepted by insurance companies and even more accepted by different cultures. "We are getting more Asians and Hispanics now," Weinkoop says. HOV services are covered by private insurance as well as Medicare and MediCal. But Weinkoop says HOV doesn't turn anyone away for lack of money. To be eligible for HOV, a patient must be diagnosed with a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less.
Last year, HOV served 430 patients. When adding an average of three family members per patient, HOV served some 1,300 people.
That number doesn't include those in the community who come in for HOV's bereavement program. For 13 months after an HOV patient dies, a family member is eligible for grief counseling as are people from the community. Weinkoop says she wishes she had known about this service when she returned from Atlanta.
"I went to Palo Alto for grief counseling for a few months," Weinkoop says. She says HOV has wonderful counselors, a children's group with art therapy and a play group. The fees for this service are determined on a sliding scale. Two of HOV's board members went through the agency's bereavement counseling.
"At our board meetings we usually read at least one letter from the families we serve," Weinkoop says, "and they are beautiful thank yous. We usually wind up passing the box of Kleenex around."
For information about Hospice of the Valley ,call 408.947.1233, or visit www.hospicevalley.org on the Internet.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
