As we celebrate the anniversary of the UK HCC, we also honor the legacy of the Bluegrass Hospice Care Center at Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington, which provided unit-based care for 30 years before beginning the process of establishing a scatterbed model, which is decentralized hospice care throughout the hospital, in 2023. 

“Happy Anniversary to our team!” Dianna Madden, Executive Director of Inpatient Services, said. “In the three years that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the care center grow and transform, and that is all because of the team. The entire team -- every nurse, every nursing assistant, every unit secretary, our nurse manager, nurse practitioner, our medical director -- deserves all the accolades. The five years that we’re celebrating is really celebrating the team there!” 

Dr. Natalie Houghton and Dana Benedict, nurse practitioner, are proud of the teamwork, friendships and interdisciplinary care that they provide patients and families every day. 

“We feel privileged to have partnered with an amazing organization and are grateful for the support that UK Healthcare provides,” Houghton said. “The UK HCC is a truly special place filled with extraordinary people called to serve an even more extraordinary population. The unit is "home" not only for those of us who work there, but also to the many patients and families who allow us into their lives and entrust us with their care.” 

For them, the keys to successful growth are the high-quality care and endless compassion that they and their teammates are privileged to provide to patients and families during a vulnerable time. 

“Great teamwork stems from great relationships, and Natalie and I are both so grateful not only for our current team and the friendships we have formed, but also for those who have come and gone over the years,” Benedict said. “In addition to the personal relationships that will last a lifetime, we are also grateful for the patients and families who have touched our lives while allowing us to care for them during one of the most vulnerable times in their lives.” 

Clinicians at the care center provide 24-hour care to each patient and family, offering a home-away-from-home with a wholistic, patient-centered care approach. The inpatient unit provides a sense of calm and peace, allowing an unlimited number of visitors and providing a place for family members to sleep, shower, eat meals and wash and dry clothes. 

“The level of support and that we put the patients first really does stand out from any place I’ve ever been,” Jacqueline Arvin, Nurse Manager at the UK HCC said. “It is never a question of insurance, but always what is right for the patient.” 

Nurses are experienced with end-of-life care, educating patients and families on disease progression and making patients and families as comfortable as possible. Social workers and chaplains offer emotional and spiritual support as needed, and volunteers donate snacks, drinks and regularly bake cookies within the unit to provide the comforts of home. One evening a week, Rosie, Bluegrass Care Navigators’ (BCN) therapy dog, and handler Matthew Moffett visit the care center to bring joy and comfort to patients and families. 

“They know that the dog is there, and it’s really hard not to get emotional,” Moffett said. “It’s neat to see them light up with happiness and gives them something to look forward to.”  

In addition to the inpatient unit, Bluegrass Care Navigators also staffs a scatter-bed model within UK Hospital to serve more patients. This model allows fragile patients to remain in their original room and spend more time with family while still receiving hospice care.

“I am so grateful for the team members that we have in place right now,” Tamara Namowicz, registered nurse at the UK HCC, said. “Hospice is part of who they are. It is in their hearts and every single one of them is focused on what our patients and our families need and how to continually improve the unit.” 

As we celebrate, we also honor the legacy of the tenured staff at the Bluegrass Hospice Care Center at Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington. This team paved the way for our additional inpatient units at UK and the Greg and Noreen Wells Bluegrass Hospice Care Center in Hazard and provided compassionate care for more than 8,400 patients and families for nearly 30 years. 

“We are grateful for the lives that we touched and what we did,” Rhoda Cheggeh, a chaplain at the UK and Baptist Health locations, said. “I worked at the Saint Joe location for 13 years, and I know I did all I needed and touched all the lives I could touch. There’s nothing I can regret about it.”   

In March, members of the Bluegrass HCC at Saint Joseph Hospital gathered to celebrate and honor the work they had done and the countless lives touched. Whitney Clay, integrative medicine program coordinator, invited the attendees to remember the gifts of giving and receiving in community. Each attendee was asked to do a drawing, cut it up and place the pieces on a table. Each person then recreated their picture using pieces from other people. 

“We all give and take something,” Madden said. “That was a physical image of something that had been going on within the care center for almost 30 years and reminded me that our accomplishments were not just about patient care, but included the family, too.” 

Counseling Resource Officer, Dave Carper visually reminded the room of their impact on the community by dropping pebbles representing patients into a jar. With each pebble, people were reminded of the impact the team made every day. 

“Let’s go forward with the same spirit of meeting people where they are and walking with them,” Cheggeh said. “Let’s go with the same spirit of supporting, helping and being present because that’s our calling to support patients and families.” 

Bluegrass Care Navigators provides hospice care in 32 counties across central, eastern and northern Kentucky. Hospice care provides physical, personal, emotional and spiritual care to patients and families who are no longer receiving treatments to cure their terminal illness, but instead choose to improve comfort and quality of life.  As a nonprofit organization, no one is turned away from Bluegrass Care Navigators based on ability to pay for hospice services.  



For more information, call 855-492-0812 or visit www.bgcarenav.org.