"Our House"—Ida Emmerson Hospice House
- Oct 11, 2022
- 2 min read
This month marks the sixth anniversary of when we opened the doors and welcomed our first patient to our Ida Emmerson Hospice House, the first and only specialized end-of-life inpatient care facility on the North Coast.
With the theme of this month’s Senior News about houses, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about “Our House.”
I have been a part of the Hospice of Humboldt team for over 21 years, and I have to admit that I often refer to the Hospice House as my fourth child. I am blessed with three amazing biological children, and this “fourth child” is something I am deeply proud to have been a part of making a reality for our community.
For over 44 years, Hospice of Humboldt has been providing heartfelt end-of-life care for patients in their usual place of residence — private homes, assisted living facilities or skilled nursing facilities. But not all hospice patients can remain at home, and “Our House” offers a place to die peacefully, comfortably and surrounded by loved ones.
“Our House” allows family to be family again instead of 24-hour caregivers. As one resident described it, “There is a spiritual energy in the hospice house and on the ground surrounding it. It is a calm and peaceful place where you inhale courage and exhale fear.”
Over the last six years, Ida Emmerson Hospice House has touched so many lives in our community and has positively impacted countless family members. There are certainly many stories to share, but honestly, I can’t share about “Our House” without telling you what this special place meant to me and my family as my own father was ending his life journey.
My father was a man of few words, but during his short time at our Hospice House, he bonded with the hospice team and shared with them how much he missed his Portland and San Francisco kids — my two children who lived out of town. They were, in fact, coming home the next weekend to see Papa.
When I learned of this conversation, I felt an overwhelming urgency to get them here, and arranged for them to arrive the next day. We all spent the afternoon laughing and reminiscing. Later that day, Dad had a sudden decline and his death became imminent. I felt so blessed to be present with him and my children, holding his hand while he took his last breath.
As it has done for so many families, “Our House” provided the support we needed when we needed it most.
Both as CEO and a loving daughter, I am forever thankful to everyone involved and the support our community provided to help build the Hospice House, which helps us fulfill our mission to provide heartfelt end-of-life care and grief support services, creating a community in which no one dies alone or afraid, and where all who grieve are comforted.
This story originally appeared in the Senior News.
