“Precious Gems 22” – Living life to the fullest

At HCA, we constantly receive beautiful thank you cards, letters of compliments and donations from grateful families of patients whom we look after. These “bouquets” are always shared at our bi-monthly townhalls with all the staff. Despite reading out many of these letters month after month, not a single one of us ever tires of hearing what our beneficiaries have to say. I decided to write about these letters because we received one recently, that was so meaningful and so beautifully written.

Having visited our patients together with our nurses over the last two years, I can only say that every visit has shown me many different facets of life. I have witnessed the pain and joy of each patient, their families and their caregivers. The visits have also shown me the sad and beautiful moments experienced and faced by our team. More than that, I have seen first hand, the meticulous care and warmth exuded by each of our team members, to their patient, their families and their caregivers. Each doctor, each nurse and each medical social worker does it differently, but everyone does it with passion and love. Therefore, it is no surprise that we continuously receive words of appreciation and love from our beneficiaries.

A recent letter that we received summed up what our patients’ families think of us. More importantly, this particular family accentuates the true meaning of hospice care! Here is an excerpt:

“It is never too late for the family to express our heartfelt appreciation for the kindness and professional help that you had rendered to my father-in-law and us. The support from the nursing staff and doctors has been invaluable. Nothing could have prepared us for the loss of a loved one. But with the guidance and support from a group of people who truly care and have given us endless support and encouragement, we were able to get through one of the toughest times of our life. Each HCA person we came into contact with, exceeded our expectations in so many special ways. Also, we cannot find the words to express our appreciation and high regard for the Hospice program. Hospice is not just about dying. It is really much more about living well to the very end. Being surrounded by such caring, professional people, has enabled our family to do just that – live each day to the fullest. Once again, a BIG thank you to all that had crossed our path in these past months.”

Every team member goes beyond the call of duty to serve and love our patients. Kudos to the HCA team! So proud of you!