Left to right:  Marsha Satorius, Melissa McCulloch, Shelley Gray and Fawn Hoener with Memorial Home Services Hospice and Sara Helm, ALMH Foundation Executive Director

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital Foundation supports hospice
Donor gifts make hospice patient wishes come true, help families cope with grief

[April 07, 2016]  LINCOLN - A check representing collective donor gifts of $6,656.31 from the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Dr. Wayne J. Schall Hospice Fund was recently presented to Memorial Home Services Hospice staff members who work with Logan County patients and their families. The memorial and Light Up A Life contributions from local donors will support hospice services for patients in Logan County.

Memorial Home Services is a not-for-profit affiliate of Memorial Health System and serves 14 central Illinois counties. Shelley Gray, RN (pictured) says she “loves the families, pharmacies, physicians and hospital in the Lincoln community.” As part of her daily routine, Gray visits hospice patients in their Logan and Mason County homes to help make their final weeks and months as pain-free and rewarding as possible. Also pictured to accept the donation on behalf of hospice are Marsha Satorius, Fawn Hoener, and Melissa McCulloch.

Gray says that the gifts from ALMH Foundation will be used to support hospice services in the Lincoln area including: on-going staff education in palliative care, bereavement and volunteer services. The gifts will also help grant wishes for local patients as part of the Memorial Medical Center Foundation’s Sharing Wishes Fund. Wishes granted to Logan County patients have included a last lap around the track at Lincoln Speedway, dinner to celebrate a 75th wedding anniversary, and a family trip to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Hospice staff members get to know the patients and their desires and then submit applications to the Sharing Wishes Fund to make those wishes a reality.

According to Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital Foundation executive director Sarah Helm, ALMH started its own hospice program in the late 1980s and named it in memory of beloved physician Dr. Wayne J. Schall. Though the Schall Hospice Program at ALMH merged with Visiting Nurses Association of Central Illinois (now known as Memorial Home Services) in the mid-1990s, the community continues to support the Schall Hospice Fund. More than a half million dollars has since been donated to the fund through the generosity of our local community.

Gifts for the Schall Hospice Fund can be sent to the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital Foundation, 200 Stahlhut Drive in Lincoln. For more information, contact the Foundation at 605-5006 or visit ALMH.org.

[Angela Stoltzenburg]