My 90-year-old mother was a patient at Riverview twice. She was brought in with UTIs that made her dementia worse than ever. During one of those first visits, Susan Heffner came into the room and talked to us about what was going on with Mom’s care and whether we needed anything. Susan was so kind and treated my mother with dignity and respect, even though my mother was so out of it.

When my mother was re-admitted, Susan visited my mom, my sister, and me again and asked about everything that had been going on during my mom‘s stay at rehab and then back at the memory wing of her assisted living facility. She watched the nurses care for my mom, and the first thing she brought up to us was palliative care. Up until then, no one had ever mentioned palliative care or anything other than the fact that she would probably have to go to rehab again. We talked at great length, and Susan visited over the next few days. My mother‘s condition went downhill. That’s when Susan brought up hospice, and she was very, very kind in the way she explained things and how she took an interest in every step of our journey and my mom‘s last days. She answered our questions patiently and gave so much of her time.

If it hadn’t been for Susan, my sister and I don’t know what we would have done. We were trapped in an unending cycle of hospital visits, rehab, and assisted living. Thanks to Susan Heffner, my mother had a wonderful, caring group of people around her during her final week. We can’t thank her enough. She truly deserves The DAISY Award.