Sale to raise funds for tamc hospice room
PRESQUE ISLE — A group of TAMC nurses, inspired by those they care for, are mobilizing to improve the experience of patients and family members in need of hospital-based hospice care. The nurses, led by a team on the medical/surgical unit, are planning a huge yard sale to raise funds to create a special patient room at the A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital.
The Super Saturday Secondhand Sale will be held Saturday, Aug. 10 in the parking lot at TAMC’s North Street Healthcare facility from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Organizers are currently collecting items from fellow TAMC employees, family and community members to sell.
The first-of-its-kind fundraiser will help provide added comfort to patients and their families at the hospital. Proceeds will go toward the renovation of an existing patient room to create a hospice room in an effort to provide patients with an extended stay and others requiring end-of-life treatment a more home-like atmosphere.
The idea for the room and the fundraiser to help make it happen were developed by the nurses on the medical/surgical unit after they were personally touched while caring for patients. Recently, after the passing of two younger patients, the nurses decided they wanted to do more to ensure that those of all ages receive the best and most stress-free care they can provide.
TAMC’s medical/surgical unit is the place at the hospital where patients come to receive end-of-life care, often after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. The team members working on the unit aid patients and their families during the experience.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to enhance a hospice room for patients and their loved ones during a difficult time by providing them with a few of the amenities of home such as a refrigerator, flat screen television, music, microwave, bedding, coffee pot, low lighting, movies, reading and writing materials, a place for photo display, comfortable sleeping, as well as access to technology such as Skype in order to ensure those family members that are unable to visit in person still have the opportunity to spend time with the patient from afar.
For more information about the TAMC hospice room project or the upcoming yard sale, contact the TAMC medical/surgical unit at 768-4321.
