Geisinger program offers companionship to terminally ill

Sept. 23, 2009, DANVILLE – Geisinger Medical Center’s No One Dies Alone program places a volunteer at the bedside of patients facing their final hours who have no family or friends to stand by their side.

No One Dies Alone was modeled after an award-winning program founded at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Oregon. It is designed to provide a comforting presence to patients who have neither family nor friends to be with them as they approach the end of their lives.

“The No One Dies Alone program offers comfort and dignity to terminally ill patients. We want to ensure that all patients at Geisinger receive the most compassionate care we can offer,” Patrick Walsh, DO, Critical Care Associate said.

Walsh added that since its inception, the program has resonated with volunteers who hold patients’ hands, read, play music and assist in comfort care as directed by the patient or nurse.

“The program is very simple for our volunteers. They have connected with the profoundly human quality of simply being a friend during a time of need,” Walsh said. “It is tragic that someone would have to die alone, and our volunteers understand that by simply being there, they are providing an incredibly virtuous service to these patients.”

For more information or to volunteer please send an e-mail to NODA@geisinger.edu