EAU CLAIRE – HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals’ palliative care program is in need of new, clean comfort blankets for patients in their program. Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses.
Patients who have had a very lengthy and difficult hospital stay or who are imminently dying are given a donated blanket. Patients and families treasure their comfort blanket because it makes a hospital room feel more like home. The blanket is theirs to keep and it either goes home with the patient upon hospital discharge, or with the family after the patient’s death, as a keepsake.
Twin-size blankets (60” wide by 72” long) are needed most, because that size covers a standard hospital bed. Gender-neutral prints are appreciated, but no juvenile prints, please. The majority of the two hospitals’ palliative care patients are adults or elderly. Fleece blankets are needed most because the material is soft, warm and lightweight and the blankets are easy to make – sewing is not required.
Completed blankets can be dropped off at either hospital at the front entrance desk. Please attach a note such as “Attention Palliative Care Service” with the name of the person or group donating the blanket and a mailing address so that the hospital can acknowledge the donation. Before presenting the blanket to the patient, each blanket will be labeled with a tag identifying the person or group who donated it. For more information, call (715) 717-4543.
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About HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital
HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital is an affiliate of the Hospital Sisters Health System. Since 1889 it has been meeting patient needs in western Wisconsin with the latest medical innovations and technology, together with a Franciscan whole-person healing tradition. For more information about HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital, visit www.sacredhearteauclaire.org.
About HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital
HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital, an affiliate of Hospital Sisters Health System, has served the people of the Chippewa Falls area since 1885 with health care that is high tech and, more importantly, high touch. Known locally for the quality of the care it provides patients, the hospital has been recognized nationally for its outstanding patient satisfaction levels. Sponsored by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, headquartered in Springfield, Ill., it is an affiliate of Hospital Sisters Health System, one of the nation’s largest Catholic health care systems. To learn more about HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital, visit www.stjoeschipfalls.com.
About Hospital Sisters Health System
Hospital Sisters Health System’s (HSHS) mission is to reveal and embody Christ’s healing love for all people through our high quality, Franciscan health care ministry. HSHS provides state-of-the-art health care to our patients and is dedicated to serving all people, especially the most vulnerable, at each of our 14 Local Systems and physician practices in Illinois (Belleville, Breese, Decatur, Effingham, Greenville, Highland, Litchfield, and Springfield) and Wisconsin (Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, Oconto Falls, Sheboygan, and two in Green Bay). HSHS is sponsored by Hospital Sisters Ministries, and Hospital Sisters of St. Francis is the founding institute. For more information about HSHS, visit www.hshs.org. For more information about Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, visit www.hospitalsisters.org.