Ava's House Team
December 2020
Avas
Center
Hospice Facility
Sanford USD Medical Center
Brenda Townsend, RN, Jennifer Grauf, RN, Brittany Enstad, RN, Michelle Kimpling, PCT, Deborah Gadsden, PCT, Ann Bunde, PCT, Linda Tucholke, Room Service Assistant, Linda Steriff, RN, Krista Menzel, RN, Supervisor
Ava's House opened in October 2017 and has served over 1000 patients and their families. Ava's House is an inpatient hospice facility that provides 24-hour nursing care to patients of all ages in a home-like environment in the final days of their lives.
Staff at Ava's has the privilege of caring not only for the patients but also the families during this stressful time. Staff try their best to ensure the patient and their family's needs are always met. Staff not only complete the patient's physical needs, but they also go out of their way to make their last moments matter. Staff make families feel comfortable and Ava's House allows families to be able to gather around their loved ones.
Ava's House has the privilege of offering many comforts to their patients including:
• Each patient receives a prayer shawl on admission
• Veterans are honored when they are admitted by putting a flag up on their door with their branch of service for all to know where they served.
• Staff that are on duty, send out personally signed thank you cards to the Veteran
• Bed runners will soon be made by the hospice volunteers for the veteran's family to take home with them
• Patients are assisted with placing their fingerprints on bookmarks and stones for the family members to take home with them to remember their loved ones.
J and his wife became family quickly. He was in Ava's house for 3 months. They were the type of people who had stories to tell and enjoyed conversations. Both J and his wife reported they were thankful for coming to Ava's House. They were able to spend time together in their room reminiscing. They went through old cards, letters, and pictures. Staff was able to assist J outside on days when it was warm. He mentioned this particular group of staff that he was thankful for:
Brenda Townsend, RN; Jennifer Grauf, RN; Brittany Enstad, RN; Michelle Kimpling, PCT; Deborah Gadsden, PCT; Ann Bunde, PCT; Linda Tucholke, NFS; Linda Steriff, RN; Krista Menzel, RN Supervisor
The nurses are all wonderful, caring, and very helpful. It's hard to pick just one!
Staff at Ava's has the privilege of caring not only for the patients but also the families during this stressful time. Staff try their best to ensure the patient and their family's needs are always met. Staff not only complete the patient's physical needs, but they also go out of their way to make their last moments matter. Staff make families feel comfortable and Ava's House allows families to be able to gather around their loved ones.
Ava's House has the privilege of offering many comforts to their patients including:
• Each patient receives a prayer shawl on admission
• Veterans are honored when they are admitted by putting a flag up on their door with their branch of service for all to know where they served.
• Staff that are on duty, send out personally signed thank you cards to the Veteran
• Bed runners will soon be made by the hospice volunteers for the veteran's family to take home with them
• Patients are assisted with placing their fingerprints on bookmarks and stones for the family members to take home with them to remember their loved ones.
J and his wife became family quickly. He was in Ava's house for 3 months. They were the type of people who had stories to tell and enjoyed conversations. Both J and his wife reported they were thankful for coming to Ava's House. They were able to spend time together in their room reminiscing. They went through old cards, letters, and pictures. Staff was able to assist J outside on days when it was warm. He mentioned this particular group of staff that he was thankful for:
Brenda Townsend, RN; Jennifer Grauf, RN; Brittany Enstad, RN; Michelle Kimpling, PCT; Deborah Gadsden, PCT; Ann Bunde, PCT; Linda Tucholke, NFS; Linda Steriff, RN; Krista Menzel, RN Supervisor
The nurses are all wonderful, caring, and very helpful. It's hard to pick just one!