Gratitude

There are many reasons to be grateful this Thanksgiving season. Here is one of them:


Letter to the Editor:

I would like to express the gratitude of our whole family for the excellent care my father, John D. Maxson, received from the County Public Health staff, headed by Randy Green, with Patty Mattson and Chi-Chi Shipley, his two home health aids, during the last two years plus of his life.

Randy made sure she was always accessible for crises, or to help me sort out what was and wasn't a crisis, as well as the appropriate care response each time. She assisted in sorting through the bureaucracy of dealing with Medicare, gave information on medications and their negative side-effects, shared practical ideas for his care, helped us with scheduling his home health aids to best meet his changing needs, assisted us through his dying process. One relative started referring to her as "the Sainted Randy."

He looked forward to his visits from Patty and Chi-Chi, appreciated their willingness to work, their unfailing kindness towards him, their helpfulness and matter-of-factness which never allowed him to become embarrassed about the many ways his body and mind were failing him. When they were here, he was always the center of their world.

Before moving in with my family, he'd had private home health care, and it was our dissatisfaction with that which prompted us to switch to the County. We were so satisfied that when the time came to switch him to home hospice care, we decided to stay with the team we knew instead. I would like to strongly commend the county for keeping such an excellent team in place, and unhesitatingly recommend them to anyone else.