Allina Health Hospice wins 2019 Touchstone Energy
Community Award
McLeod Co-op Power Association in Glencoe
recently awarded a Touchstone Energy Community
Award to Allina Health Hospice, specifi cally its
Blizzard Blast 2020 Committee.
Members of the committee received $500 for their
efforts, and they will receive a plaque recognizing
them. The co-op has also nominated Allina Health
Hospice for the statewide Touchstone Energy
Community Award.
Blizzard Blast
To support hospice services, Allina Health Hospice
hosted its 14th annual Blizzard Blast charity event
Jan. 31 at the Glencoe City Center. Blizzard Blast
2020 included food, music, a fun and lively auction,
raffl es, and inspiring stories.
Blizzard Blast benefi ts hospice patients and their
families in the community. Funds raised from the
event, donations from individuals or organizations,
and the Hospice Thrift Store in Glencoe all remain in
local communities. These funds help provide massage
and music therapy to patients. These services are not
covered by Medicare or private insurance.
Funds raised also help provide grief and
bereavement services for families served by hospice,
as well as members of the community seeking grief
support. Allina Health Hospice is also starting to add
pet therapy and aromatherapy for hospice patients.
Allina Health Hospice
Allina Health Hospice is based in St. Paul. The local
branch covers seven counties around the Glencoe/
Hutchinson area, including McLeod, Carver, Sibley,
Wright, Renville, Meeker, and Kandiyohi counties.
Allina Health Hospice provides care to individuals
who are approaching the end of their lives. The goal
is to promote comfort, quality of life, and dignity at
end-of-life.
Allina Health Hospice serves hospice patients and
their families by providing and coordinating care
services, so these families can make the most of their
remaining time together.
The Hospice Care Team develops a Plan of Care
to make Care Team visits to the patient and family,
provides needed medical equipment and comfort
medicines, and supplies volunteer visit support.
They bring the care services to patients in their
residence, which sometimes is a nursing home, or
assisted living facility, or group home. Where the
patient calls “home” is where hospice serves them,
because this is where they are the most comfortable.
They also offer grief support to families and
caregivers after a loved one’s death.
The Allina Health Hospice Care Team includes
hospice physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains,
home health aides, a massage therapist, a music therapist,
a volunteer coordinator, and a grief counselor.
Local assistance, therapy
The Glencoe/Hutchinson branch of Allina Health
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Senior
The Blizzard Blast 2020 Committee received a $500 award from McLeod Co-op Power Association.
Hospice has 40 volunteers who make patient visits,
and give respite breaks to family caregivers. They
also have 35 volunteers who work at the Allina Health
Hospice Thrift Store in Glencoe.
A resident of Glencoe, who served as a primary
caregiver for his wife when she had ALS, summed up
how Allina Health Hospice benefi ts the patient and the
family.
He said, “It is important, because it takes their mind
off of the pain and circumstances for a time. It helped
relieve the mental anguish for my wife. The music
therapy helped the family and caregivers, as well as
the patient.”
Each family that has used the services of Allina
Health Hospice to care for a loved one has a unique
story, but the general theme heard over and over again
is how wonderful it was to have the hospice staff there
to help get everything set up for their loved one to
come home from the hospital and be well-cared-for.
Massage therapy can help manage a patient’s pain,
reduce stress, and improve circulation/mobility. Music
therapy provides physical, emotional, and social
comfort. Both sessions are led by certifi ed therapists,
and are adapted to meet each patient’s comfort level.
The nursing staff teaches the family members how
to physically and emotionally care for their loved one,
and prepares them for what to expect during each stage
of the progressing illness.
The social workers and nursing staff answer
questions, assist with medications, and provide patient
care as dictated by the patient’s personal Plan of Care.
They have a hospice doctor who can provide house
calls for patients who cannot be transported to the
clinic.
Connections March/April 2020
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Allina staff is available 24/7 to take calls and help
families through the fi nal hours as their loved one
passes. They contact the mortuary for the family at that
time. They are there for the family with bereavement
support for up to a year. The families that have used
the hospice service often praise the care staff for their
understanding and empathy.
Senior Connections HJ.COM