Ginny Green, Director of Nursing at Quiet Oaks, helped present research studies and results on Healing Touch at the Minnesota Network of Hospice and Palliative Care in April. This conference brings together Hospice and Palliative care providers from Minnesota and 14 other states. As Ginny pointed out, “Minnesota is a front runner in the hospice and palliative care industry. There is legislative support here and a wide variety of hospice facilities in Minnesota. This conference brings together both for-profit and non-profit hospice houses to help provide education and support. Information is shared which can ultimately help residents and families.”
She, along with Debra Day Laxon (Certified Healing Touch Practioner and volunteer at Quiet Oaks) and Bridget Klein (Registered Nurse at the St. Cloud Hospital, within the CentraCare Heart and Vascular Center), spoke about Healing Touch, as a non-pharmacological modality for pain management in hospital and hospice settings. Ginny said, “Healing Touch works to help reduce pain levels, and work in conjunction with pain medicine.” Healing Touch specifically is “a nursing intervention that is a heart-centered energy therapy using gentle touch.”
Healing Touch has been a treatment option for residents at Quiet Oaks for about 4 years, to help pain medicine work more efficiently and reduce anxiety for both residents and family members.
Your financial support makes such a difference – please give to Quiet Oaks
Transitioning a loved one to hospice care is one of the hardest moments in life. Worrying about the cost, makes that decision even more difficult.
Your gift makes a difference to keep Quiet Oaks affordable and accessible. Your financial support is so important. Working together, we know that Quiet Oaks will be here to continue to provide exemplary, peaceful, end-of-life care to those in need and support to their families.
Quiet Oaks has many blessings to celebrate. We are pleased to report that our average occupancy has increased 37% over the prior year, which is a testament to our outreach efforts and collaborative partnerships. It reflects the importance of advocacy brought about by shared stories and experiences. And it also demonstrates the need for these services to continue in our community.
In an effort to manage rising health care costs, Quiet Oaks raised its daily rate this year. This rate paid by residents continues to cover only 70% of the actual cost of care. These rates also do not cover the cost of family services, such as overnight stays, meals and staff support of family needs such as bereavement care.
Over the past year, financial gifts from our donors helped support basic services and specific areas of need, including;
- 70 days of compassionate care (These days are fully funded for families in financial need.)
- Comforts of home to families, including 13,600 home cooked meals and 588 complimentary nights of stay.
- Education and training to nursing staff to enhance their skills and further foster the gold standard of care provided
at Quiet Oaks. - Community events that raised awareness, gathered supporters and netted funding of $130,000 toward the needs of Quiet Oaks. One very special event, this year’s Memorial Butterfly Release, attracted a record crowd of 1,100 people to Munsinger Gardens!
- A $75,000 gift was used, in part, to increase nurse’s wages, which is critical to attract and retain skilled staff as we face nursing shortages.
- $72,000 of in-kind gifts and labor from contractors, builders and suppliers to renovate and convert our screen porch to a full-use area.
- A $10,000 gift to pave the long driveway to our back guest parking area.
- A $7,000 arts grant provided seed money to begin our Heart Held Hands legacy project, which provides a meaningful keepsake of hand portraits of our residents and their loved ones.
- A $2,500 grant was received to enhance services for our We Honor Veterans program.
- $2,000 in service and in-kind gifts toward the update of our technology, which is critical to the security and management of records and operations.
If you have already given to Quiet Oaks, we are grateful.
If you are considering a gift, we’d love to hear from you today.
If you have been unsure, please consider a gift today to ensure that Quiet Oaks is here when someone dear to you may need us. We also invite you to visit and see for yourself what makes Quiet Oaks a place that is worthy of your support.
We offer thanks for the many blessings we have received. We humbly ask for your prayers, good will and financial support in 2018, continuing into the coming year. And we wish you and your family a beautiful and blessed holiday season!
With grateful hearts,
Linda Allen Laurie Strack Debbie Spaniol
Executive Director Funds Development Funds Development
Quiet Oaks offers peace during a difficult time