Alona Tester, RN works for our PACE organization and has developed and led our comfort care program with dedication and love. In 2020 near the beginning of the COVID outbreak, our program decided to bring a comfort care (Hospice) program in-house. At the time we felt like our contracted providers were not caring for our participants like we could.

Alona, who had no hospice experience, volunteered to head the program and threw herself into learning everything she could about comfort care and dying with dignity. The success and dedication of Alona in this program have meant that we are able to care for our participants and their families through the end of life when they are most vulnerable. She has led and educated our nurses on end-of-life care, and her passion for the subject has inspired all of the nurses in our program to embrace end-of-life care for our elderly population. The service that Alona has brought to our program and our community is unparalleled.