Bluegrass Care Navigators Redefines Hope through Hospice Care
For Lois and Doug Gates, home has always been a place of purpose, faith and shared life. Married for more than 63 years, the couple met as teenagers, built a family through adoption, and spent decades serving others together. Their moments together became even more precious after Lois received a serious diagnosis two years ago. After undergoing surgery, the cancer recurred, and the couple chose to forgo additional treatment and live the best quality of life possible with support from Bluegrass Care Navigators (BCN).
“I get up and I thank the Lord every day that I have another morning and that I have another day with Lois,” Doug said. “We don’t take each other for granted.”
Lois spent 50 years working at Nicholas County Hospital, beginning in 1962 just one week after graduating high school. What started as answering phones and greeting patients grew into a lifelong career in medical records and health information management. As the hospital expanded, Lois advanced into leadership and oversaw the department.
After a lifetime of supporting clinicians behind the scenes, when Lois herself faced serious illness, she already understood what compassionate care should look like.
After surgery in 2024 for oral cancer, she and her family faced difficult decisions about further treatment when the cancer recurred. Together, they chose to focus on comfort and quality of life. In the fall of 2025, they began hospice care with Bluegrass Care Navigators, a provider Lois already trusted from her years working in the hospital.
Hospice care comes right to Lois’s home. Currently, a nurse visits weekly to check her vitals and manage medications, and the team is always just a phone call away. For Doug, that reassurance makes all the difference.
“It makes me feel better knowing they’re checking on her,” he said. “I want her to have the best care possible, and I know they’re providing that.”
Because of BCN’s support, Lois is still living life on her terms. She continues to crochet, quilt, embroider and cross-stitch, creating hats that she donates to local schools. One room of their home is dedicated to the beautiful crafts Lois has made that includes doll dresses and doll house furniture. When the weather is warm, she and Doug still fish at least once a week, and she fills her days with the activities that bring her joy and purpose.
“Hospice has helped me keep doing the things I love,” Lois said. “They’re there when I need them, and they take care of me and Doug, too. They include him in my care plan.”
For Lois and Doug, hospice isn’t about giving up, it’s about living fully, together, at home. With Bluegrass Care Navigators by their side, they’re doing just that, one day, one project, and one shared moment at a time.
About Bluegrass Care Navigators
Established in 1978, Bluegrass Care Navigators (BCN) provides hospice care in 32 counties across northern, central and eastern Kentucky. As a mission-driven, nonprofit agency, BCN supports those facing serious illness or chronic disease with both long and short-term hospice care, palliative care, transitional care, PACE (Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), and grief counseling services. For more information on services available by county, visit www.bgcarenav.org or call 855.492.0812.
