This week in clinic we had a bit of an extraordinary occurrence and I wanted to mention Jacqueline Gore who went above and beyond to assist a Veteran and his family in a critical hour of need.
This Veteran had been in poor health for quite some time and recently we had been discussing hospice but nothing formal had been decided. We received a call from his wife stating that he was unresponsive and having difficulty breathing. The wife was obviously distressed and requesting assistance as the Veteran recently had formally decided he wanted to pass at home and they were not planning on utilizing emergency services if the need were to arise.
Upon receipt of this information, Jacqueline dropped everything in the middle of a busy clinic day and immediately got the wife on the phone and spent an incredible amount of time triaging the situation and supporting her emotional needs.
Remarkably, while Jacqueline was on the phone with the spouse. she coordinated an effort through TEAMS to line up social work and medical certification to get the ball rolling for hospice. On top of all of this she was able to keep our clinic morning flowing smoothly; all this without the help of our RN who is detailed to the inpatient ward.
I still cannot believe the morning went off without a hitch and no Veteran care was impacted or even delayed despite everything.