The Dow Chemical Company Foundation awarded a $1,000 grant to People’s Hospice, a department of United Hospital Center (UHC), in support of the hospice concept of care as an important part of the health delivery system in North Central West Virginia.

The grant is part of the Dow Chemical Company Foundation’s support to local communities where employees and retirees live.

“The service that People’s Hospice provides is outstanding and it is a necessary part of our community,” said Kenneth Bennington, president of UCAR Clarksburg retirees. “The grant is made in recognition of the value of hospice in a community’s health care system and to honor the hospice volunteers for their special contribution.”

Hospice is a medically-directed program of supportive services for terminally ill persons and their families. The majority of hospice services are provided in the home. “Volunteers play an integral role at the end of life and this donation supplements the education and training for patient care needs,” said Mary Beth Anderson, volunteer coordinator for People’s Hospice.

People’s Hospice provides care where you live in the last months of a terminal illness. The care neither hastens nor postpones death, but affirms life, emphasizing quality and comfort. The hospice health care team of professionals includes your physician, registered nurses, home health aides, social workers, physical, occupational, and speech therapists; as well as volunteers, clergy, and bereavement counselors. People’s Hospice is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and serves Harrison, Marion, Lewis, Doddridge, Taylor, Upshur, Barbour, Wetzel, and Monongalia counties.

“People’s Hospice is grateful for the generosity of community partners like Dow Chemical Company,” said Linda Carte, RN, MSN, AOCN, vice president of oncology and post-acute care at UHC. “This grant has been a great contribution for needed services at the end of life.”