By THY VO and LUCY HAGGARDMarch 6, 2021 GMT
DENVER (AP) Maria McLain Cox deals in uncertainty.
The longtime hospital chaplain has been with patients through chemotherapy and new diagnoses. She comforts couples who have lost infants, the families of stroke victims and people who were rushed to the emergency room and didn’t survive.
There are no words McLain Cox can say to ward off difficulty, or make it pass more quickly. But she can offer her presence. She talks to the worried and grieving through what they’re feeling, or they might sit together silently. She might offer a hug. Some reach out to hold her hand as they pray. Sometimes it’s a Coke from the vending machine that forges a connection.
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Dying is a sacred journey, Dawn Darvalics says, and sheâs passionate about providing the best end-of-life care for patients.Â
âJust as we celebrate birth, I believe the period of dying should also receive that same focus and attention,â she said. âI have seen what a difference hospice and palliative care makes in the lives of so many people. . The patientsâ stories and the differences we make in their lives are so palpable and tangible and real. These experiences satisfy the part of me personally that wants to make a difference in the world.â
As the new president of Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care, Darvalics knows the people who work in hospice âdo so because it is a calling.Â
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Don Knox, executive director of the Home Care & Hospice Association of Colorado, wrote a letter to Gov. Jared Polis on Dec. 7 supporting top priority status in COVID-19 vaccine access for home health care and hospice providers.
These providers âare on the frontlines of the pandemic caring for over 12 million of the nationâs most at-risk individuals annually through over 3.5 million dedicated caregivers,â Knox wrote.
In Colorado, they include physicians, nurses, therapists, home health aides, hospice aides, personal care aides, home care workers and direct support professionals â and more than 60 percent of them report having cared for COVID-infected patients.