Central Wyoming Hospice & Transitions

“Help For The Holidays”

October 27, 2023 | News and Events

Holidays can be a celebration, but they can also be a time of added stress and anxiety, especially if you’re the caretaker for a loved one or experiencing the loss of someone special. Come join us for “Help For The Holidays”, where representatives from Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions will offer tips on how to navigate the Season. The presentation will give you tips and tricks for not only surviving the holidays, but enjoying them, including:

taking care of yourself while you’re caring for others
how to cope with grief if there’s an empty place at your table
noticing a decline in a loved one if you haven’t seen them in a while
what to look for and where to turn for help and advice if you’re concerned

“Help For The Holidays” will be held on Monday, November 20th at 6 PM in the Natrona County Library Crawford Room. This program is free and open to the public. Call 577.7323 for more information.

Family Trick or Treat at CWHT

October 20, 2023 | News and Events

Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions will be hosting a Family Trick or Treat Open House on October 31st from 1:00pm until 4:30pm, at the Administration Offices at 319 S. Wilson. Bring the little ones around to visit our Haunted Doorways for treats, and enjoy some cookies and punch! For more information, call (307) 577-4832.

CHWT Joins NIC For “Day Of The Dead” Death Cafe

| News and Events

Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions will be hosting a Death Café at the Nicolaysen At Museum as part of their “Dia De Los Muertos” celebration. It’s an empowering conversation around death and dying, aimed at increasing awareness of and de-mystifying death to help people make the most of their adult lives. “It’s a space where you talk about death to become more engaged with life, “says Susan Burk, Community Liaison at CWHT. “Our society is much more removed from death than in the past,” says Burk. “The Death Café allows people to express their fears, hopes, and curiosity about death. You can also come and just listen. It’s not grief counseling, it’s an open and authentic discussion about death, and the conversations can go in some very interesting directions.” The Death Café will be 5:30pm at the Nicolaysen Art Musum. It is free and open to everyone. Coffee, treats, and companionship are provided. Please bring your thoughts, attitudes, hopes, and fears concerning death. “I believe that the culture of silence surrounding death should be broken through discussion, gathering, art, innovation, and scholarship.” -The Order of The Good Death

CWHT Hosts New Suicide Loss Grief Support Group

September 27, 2023 | News and Events

A new Grief Support Group for those who have lost a loved one to suicide will be starting up in November, hosted by Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions. “Those that join us will be welcome to participate as much or as little as they are ready for. This will be a safe space for everyone to talk, listen, and realize that they are not alone in their loss,” says Shaina Eberly, BSW, who will be facilitating the group. “This will be great additional support during the Holiday season for those that have lost someone to suicide.” The Suicide Loss Grief Support Group will start November 7^th, meeting on Tuesday evenings from 5:30pm-6:30pm at the CWHT Administration Office, 319 South Wilson. The group will run for 6 weeks, skipping November 21^st (Thanksgiving week) and ending December 19^th. For more information or to register, please call (307) 577-4832 or email Shaina at shainae@centralwyominghospice.org.

CWHT Hosts Unique Event, “A Night Well Spent”

August 15, 2023 | News and Events

Please join us for “A Night Well Spent” on September 9^th on beautiful Casper Mountain. This unique experience will feature a five-course dining event with regionally inspired food with a nod to old-world style preparation handmade by Head Chef Matt Sissman and Chef de Cuisine Travis Johnson. Live it up with limousine service to and from Sunrise Shopping Center and Hogadon. Enjoy specialty wines, a signature cocktail, and the bar.

The all-inclusive ticket price of $1500 per couple is your gift to help provide excellent end-of-life care in your community. With only 100 tickets available, this is a very exclusive evening. There will be no fundraising at this event. This is simply an evening to enjoy unique and delicious food, excellent company, and a beautiful venue, the Hogadon Lodge.

Cocktails begin at 4:00pm, with dinner service starting at 6:00pm.
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Rachel at (307) 577-4832.

Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions is With You to live life to the fullest.

CWHT Converse County CNA Michelle shares a beautiful story about her patient Bernice

July 12, 2023 | News

“She walks with her walker at a snail’s pace but is pleased with herself because she is still trying to do as much for herself as possible. She is 80 years old, having made it to that grand life marker, well beyond the 3-month prognosis given in connection with a massive tumor of cancer in her chest. Her long straight hair is still naturally sandy blonde, her cheeks pink, and her eyes mischief-filled, sparkling blue. We reach the bathroom to take a shower, which we do twice every week, having had a good visit about her beloved children and grandchildren, and how she wants to go home and see if her sunflowers are up. There is only a tub, so we maneuver around, she hitches herself up onto a shower chair that has been placed in the tub (yes, at 80 years old!!), her feet outside the tub on a step stool, and we proceed to shower, water and suds going everywhere, soaked up by a multitude of towels on the floor. She tilts her head back, eyes closed, and relishes the warm water cascading over her head and face. And I marvel at the beauty of that face! That face that wears the lines of time…drawn there by joys and sorrows, years of days in the sun gardening and raising children, births and deaths, love and hurt and laughter, courage and resolve…..and it strikes me that I love the face and the story of this woman for whom I have the opportunity to care….to come along side of and perhaps ease this ending of her journey. I cherish this blessing I have been given, and will hold precious each moment in her company, because each time I come away, I am inspired to live life fully as she has, and MY journey is eased, and I am thankful…..”

Employee Testimonial: Chris, Care Coordinator RN

| News

“For most of my nursing career, I was attracted to higher acuity fields like ICU, Cardiac Cath Lab, or Cardiothoracic Surgery. I loved the critical thinking element and the occasional adrenaline rush that came along with those specialties. During those times I NEVER would have considered hospice nursing. It sounded boring and depressing.

Post-COVID I wasn’t sure if healthcare was where I wanted to focus my energy anymore. I was suffering from burnout. I’d always heard great things about Central Wyoming Hospice and thought I’d give it a try: worst case scenario I decide it’s not for me.

When I initially went to nursing school, I had an admittedly idealistic and naive view of nursing. I imagined a lot of one-on-one time and patient bonding. Hospice is truly the type of nursing I envisioned: a place where management encourages you to spend time holding your patient’s hands and comforting them. Comfort is the main focus of hospice and Central Wyoming Hospice administration always puts patient care first.

I now work as an admission nurse with the Care Coordination team. I have the luxury of working with some of the most compassionate, caring, and competent healthcare workers. We have a phenomenal team of nurses, CNAs, social workers, chaplains, grief care providers, etc. We bring a holistic approach to end-of-life care. We will be there to care for not only the patient but family and friends. We will care for the patient’s physical needs as well as the patient’s and family’s emotional and spiritual needs.

I am confident that Central Wyoming Hospice provides the best end-of-life care for our patients. Our team truly wants to bring our knowledge and expertise to give our patients the best hospice experience possible. On a daily basis, I am amazed and proud when I hear how we have provided care and comfort for our patients and families.

I love where I work.

I am blessed to be a part of this team.”

CWHT’s “We Honor Veterans” Honored as Four-Star Program

May 31, 2023 | News and Events

Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions has achieved its fourth star for its quality of care for veterans through the national We Honor Veterans Program, this out of a five-star ranking system. We Honor Veterans was created by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in partnership with the Veterans Administration and works to improve the quality of care for all veterans and their families. CWHT also provides a moving recognition pinning ceremony, the “Honor Salute”, for veteran patients and clients in our care.

CWHT has earned their stars for each level by completing education and community engagement, and developing VA and other veteran partnerships, among other activities.“We’re very honored to recognize our veteran’s service and sacrifices,” says Susan Burk, CWHT’s We Honor Veterans Team Lead. “It’s a very important part of our commitment to making sure that veterans get the care and recognition they deserve.”

Larry Kloster, a CWHT Veteran-to-Veteran Volunteer and current chair of the CWHT Board of Directors, has been part of the program here from the beginning. “As I reflect back on the past four years and the 300 plus veterans we have honored through the ‘We Honor Veterans’ program that Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions has adopted, it has been one of the most memorable experiences in my life,” says Kloster. “We have been given the privilege and honor to thank our veteran patients for laying down their lives so that we may have the freedoms we enjoy each and every day! God Bless our Veterans and may God Bless our United States of America!”

CWHT Joins National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation

January 27, 2023 | News and Events

Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions is excited to announce our new membership to the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). NPHI is made up of more than 95 not-for-profit, community-integrated hospice and palliative care providers and is dedicated to ensuring patients and their families have access to high quality care at the last stages of life. Central Wyoming Hospice is the is the first NPHI member in Wyoming.

NPHI believes the end-of-life care patients and their families receive should reflect their individual goals, values, and preferences. Together, members across the country define the standards of hospice care and guide patients and families through that journey.

“We joined NHPI because we believe that non-profit, community-based hospice providers historically have been and continue to be the leaders and the innovators in end-of-life care,” said CWHT Executive Director Kilty Brown. ”Ultimately, NHPI’s mission and values align closely with the type of care we provide daily.”

NPHI members are committed to person-centered advanced illness care that ensures individuals can focus on quality and comfort at the last stage of life. Driven by patient and family needs – not profit – members work to fundamentally change how people and institutions view end-of-life care, and instead, help people live as well as possible until they die.