HOLLISTER
A short while after Joe McMahon’s mother moved into the Mabie Northside Skilled Nursing Facility at age 93, it became apparent she was nearing the end of life.
To help provide both for McMahon’s mother and his family, she was aided by the hospital’s palliative care program – an in-patient service providing physical and emotional care to patients at the end of their lives.
“During her last months there, the palliative care people were very important to her care,” McMahon said. “They were really there for her.”
Starting Friday, McMahon will be dedicating a light in honor of his mother, who passed away in May. The Hospice Foundation will put on the annual Tree of Life event that evening, raising money for hospice and palliative care and allowing people to honor and remember those who have passed.
“It’s a wonderful, very moving holiday ceremony,” said Jennifer Pettley, director of communications with the foundation. “We wanted to bring the Tree of Life out into the community and make it more of a community event.”
This year, for the first time, the tree lighting will take place at the Veterans Memorial Plaza, with a presentation on the various programs in the county, a performance by the Oriana Chorale and the lighting of the trees.
For a suggested donation of $25, people can dedicate a light in memory or honoring a friend of family member. The money raised from the Trees of Life benefits end-of-life programs in the local community, including Hazel Hawkins’ palliative care program, the Visiting Nurses Association and Hospice of the Central Coast.
In 2002, the Hospice Foundation provided Hazel Hawkins a startup grant for $375,000 over a five-year period to initiate and establish the palliative care program.
“We help with pain and system management and end-of-life decision making,” said Sunny Underwood, a family nurse practitioner for the palliative care program. “It’s an emerging specialty. Palliative care really brings these elements together and provides good emotional care for families also.”
McMahon said the palliative care program helped, not only his mother as she dealt with pain, but it also helped he and his family prepare for her loss.
“As she progressively got worse and worse, they came along and were very instrumental in making things much easier for us,” he said. “They were just always there to provide support and all the help they could.”
WHAT: Trees of Life
WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Veterans Memorial Plaza
