COUNTY — President/CEO John Garmon recently announced that local palliative care provider Providence Care is now accepting patients to receive end-of-life services and counseling.
When neighbors, friends, or family members begin to face health issues that arise with aging, it is their right to have access to community resources from which they can benefit, Garmon said.
For many families, life-limiting illnesses can be intimidating and frightening. A lack of understanding, education, and guidance in the community at large can cause confusion among our local citizens.
“For those organizations that can help, it is our obligation to make available a highly visible community resource center that offers stable care and uncompromising integrity for reliable information and education,” Garmon said. “The simple truth is that as our community ages, the need for preventative health assessments and proactive end of life care and education will continue to rise.”
Providence Care is dedicated to enhancing the health of the community and serving as a touchstone for residents of Anderson and Pickens County.
Many services are free of charge and focus on the senior population which may have limited access to care. In addition, Providence Care serves as a resource center where community organizations and non-profits can extend their services. Imagine a centralized location where seniors can come to utilize free preventative wellness services, receive end of life care, and obtain referrals to community organizations that can help provide them extra help and support. Whether it is Meals on Wheels or information on where to get free legal advice, Providence Care adds value to the lives of its neighbors.
As a way to enhance education, free seminars focusing on aging, end of life choices, chronic illness, information on living wills and health care powers of attorney, and other relative topics of interest to the community will be available on a recurring and rotating basis at their office.
“Providence Care is the area’s only faith-based hospice provider that is locally owned, operated, and staffed,” Garmon said. “We saw a need in our community for neighbors helping neighbors rather than a one-size-fits-all, franchised approach to end-of-life matters. We believe in a holistic approach that’s not just about taking a pill; complementary therapies such as massage or meditation do not have side effects. Unlike many other providers, we offer more than just the minimal scope of end of life services.”
It is Providence Care’s desire to help teach the art of living and dying naturally, without pain or fear, in complete peace. Just as being born is sacred, they view the end of life process also as holy.
Providence’s ministry is founded in Job 10:12 (NIV): “You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your PROVIDENCE watched over my spirit.”
If you or someone you know is suffering from a terminal disease, fear, chronic pain or uncontrolled symptoms of any kind, Providence Care can help.