Hospice Photo Display Celebrates Patients, Families and Volunteers
A traveling photograph exhibit that sheds new light on daily hospice life will be at the Fox River Mall food court in Grand Chute through Feb. 4.
“Portraits of Hope,” presented locally by ThedaCare At Home, is a compilation of photographs submitted by hospices throughout Wisconsin, including ThedaCare’s Cherry Meadows Hospice in Appleton. The display celebrates hospice patients, families, staff, and volunteers.
The exhibit depicts hospice life throughout Wisconsin and was created by the Hospice Organization and Palliative Experts (HOPE) of Wisconsin. HOPE provides education, legislative influence and partnership opportunities to all individuals and organizations in Wisconsin who influence quality end-of-life decisions and care to strengthen the provision of hospice and palliative care.
“Death and dying are often taboo subjects. This exhibit focuses on the quality of life at end-of-life and we hope it can start conversations about end-of-life issues people may have been reluctant to discuss before,” said Teri Metropulos, hospice manager for ThedaCare At Home. “We’ll also have a display outlining the services hospice and ThedaCare At Home can provide. Many people are not aware of all of the benefits that hospice can offer and may thing it’s only about those last days, but it’s really so much more.”
Two former Cherry Meadows Hospice residents – Bob Rumenoff and Ken Cordier – along with hospice volunteer Franny Kilgas are featured in one of the “Portraits of Hope.” The photo shares the story of Rumenoff and Cordier, who spent many afternoons on the porch at Cherry Meadows where they greeted people coming and going. “The images convey a lot of emotions and will really draw people in,” Metropulos said.
ThedaCare At Home has received numerous recognitions in the past six years as one of the fastest growing and best performing home care agencies in the nation. ThedaCare At Home provides a continuum of home care services, including skilled nursing, home and residential hospice care, respiratory services, infusion therapy, home medical equipment, rehab and mobility, remote monitoring and other specialty services. ThedaCare At Home serves more than 17,000 patients in 10 counties, including Outagamie, Winnebago, Calumet, Brown, Green Lake, Waushara, Waupaca, Shawano, Menominee, and Oconto counties. There are more than 300 employees, including 150 licensed health care professionals in 15 different specialties. ThedaCare At Home also operates Cherry Meadows Hospice and the ThedaCare Hospice Residence on the Peabody–Heritage campus in Appleton.
ThedaCare™ is a community health system consisting of five hospitals: Appleton Medical Center, Theda Clark Medical Center, New London Family Medical Center, Shawano Medical Center, and Riverside Medical Center in Waupaca. ThedaCare also includes ThedaCare Physicians, ThedaCare Behavioral Health, and ThedaCare at Home. ThedaCare is the largest employer in Northeast Wisconsin with more than 6,175 employees. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
