Patients in need of blood, chemotherapy, injections, or IV
hydration now have a space to call their own at Hazel Hawkins
Hospital thanks to the creation of an infusion center in
October.
Before the center was established, infusion patients had to be
treated in the same large room as all the hospital’s other patients
or in the ER, according to San Benito Home Health Care Director
Gerry O’Brien.
Hollister – Patients in need of blood, chemotherapy, injections, or IV hydration now have a space to call their own at Hazel Hawkins Hospital thanks to the creation of an infusion center in October.
Before the center was established, infusion patients had to be treated in the same large room as all the hospital’s other patients or in the ER, according to San Benito Home Health Care Director Gerry O’Brien.
But since the center’s opening in October, the 80-90 infusion patients the hospital gets every month can get their treatment in a more relaxed and welcoming environment, she said.
The center wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of one local family in 2002. When the family lost a loved one, they decided to donate money to the hospital that had helped them through the ordeal. But the donation came with three stipulations: The family wanted to remain anonymous, they didn’t want the amount they had donated to be disclosed, and they wanted the two nurses who had cared for their family member to decide what would be done with the money.
The two nurses – neither of whom are still at Hazel Hawkins, according to hospital marketing director Frankie Valent – decided to spread the money out. Some went to staff education for end-of-life care, some went to buy new ER monitors, and the rest was used to establish a new infusion center.
The infusion center is a small room tucked away in the center of the hospital. It’s just about filled with its two medical chairs meant to resemble arm chairs, one nurse, and one or two patients. But the atmosphere and the care Hazel Hawkins is able to provide in that tiny space make a big difference, according to O’Brien.
“It’s a matter of patient convenience,” she said, “being able to sit in arm chairs instead of gurneys and having specialized care.”
The anonymous donation has provided the hospital with enough money not only to convert a formerly unused patient care room into an infusion center, but to staff it with specialized nurses as well.
For more information about the infusion center, call 831-638-1111.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at
jq*****@fr***********.com
.
