PROFILES
words by ROXANE B. SALONEN photography by BECKY SHERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
SERVING in tender times CHI HEALTH AT HOME OFFERS home health and hospice services
M
ost of her 26 years working for CHI Health at Home have been spent in administration. But recently, Sue Heitkamp, president, served as a hospice nurse for a dear friend who lived in an area without the services.
“
I walked away with the reminder of the absolute blessing it is to be able to serve." Sue Heitkamp
president chi health at home
“One thing I came away with was being reminded that the patient isn’t the only person we care for and work with; it’s the family, too,” Heitkamp says. She also was reminded of something else: “The absolute blessing of being able to serve.” It’s what’s kept Heitkamp in the field and fuels her passion for the work. Indeed, when a loved one becomes terminally ill, those surrounding them also need support. “We can bring people together and help them resolve issues so there are no regrets.” They can also help the client give or receive what many need at this point: to forgive or be forgiven; say or hear, “I love you;” and say or hear, “Thank you.”
Covering a broad area of 32 counties throughout North Dakota and 23 counties in Minnesota, CHI Health at Home exists to help carry families’ burdens in tender times. Heitkamp says that in all her years working for the company, no one has said they wish they hadn’t done hospice, but many have remarked they wish they’d contacted them sooner. While the physician generally determines timing for hospice, usually within six months of death, she says, the duration of care can change during hospice care. But some families don’t understand the process or that they have choices in hospice care, she says. “Often, hospitalized patients are not given a choice at time of discharge, but simply informed, ‘this agency will be admitting you at home.’” When being discharged following a hospital stay, Heitkamp encourages you take charge of decisions for your at-home care. “Persistence is needed at times to ensure the referral is to the agency of your choice.” Like choices in primary care physicians, she explains, patients have the right and now the choice of home health or hospice providers. “We like to say, ‘It’s your health, your home, your choice,’” she remarks.
68
a r e a wom a n
| areawomanmagazine.com