An Outpouring of Support - Physicians Support Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House Project   
(Posted 3/31/06)

For 10 years, Hermina Habak's volunteerism brightened the days of terminally ill patients in hospice.  She went into their homes; brought comfort and cheer; made meals; ran errands; and shared her extraordinary love for people in whatever way she could. 

The gave friendship to a dying woman who loved to paint but had no means to buy supplies.  Over several months, she brought the woman paint-by-number kits that filled her final days with joy. 

Patients' pets could count on finding treats in her purse.  Families could find strength in her nurturing and gentle way.  The daughter of a patient who passed away never forgot:  She invited Hermina to her wedding. 

"You have to be a hugely compassionate person to do this kind of volunteer work, and Hermina was awesome," says Connie Summers, who coordinates hospice volunteers for Genesis VNA and Hospice.  "She was extremely dedicated to hospice care." 

"Hermina's patients loved her," adds her husband, cardiologist Philip Habak, M.D.  "She would often spend an afternoon or a day at the home of patients, helping them await death with comfort and dignity.  At the time, she had no idea she would one day become ill herself.  Although she never received hospice before she passed away, she knew this service was priceless for patients and families in need."  

A Living Memorial
Hermina Habak's devotion to hospice care will live on at the future Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House in Bettendorf, where a beautifully built sunroom will be named in her honor.  Dr. Philip Habak provided a lead gift early in the fund-raising campaign and also rallied the support of fellow cardiologists in Cardiovascular Medicine, P.C. - the group he founded in 1976.  

His gift is one of many from Quad Cities physicians who have embraced the area's first freestanding hospice house with an outpouring of financial support.  Physician giving has accounted for about 7 percent - or $400,000 - of the more than $6.8 million raised for the project to date. 

Last year, lead gifts from the Clarissa C. Cook Home Board of Directors and from Genesis VNA and Hospice provided a significant early boost to the $7.4 million project. 

"We've received such wonderful support from physicians and their spouse," says Sally Worden, campaign director for the hospice house.  "There are so many worthy causes out there, but it seems like this one has been especially warmly received by our physician community." 

"We know physicians are philanthropic, but they often don't have the time or opportunity to participate in fund-raising events or schedule personal meetings to discuss the project or program.  This is where the Physician Division of the Steering Committee - led by Dr. Ed Motto and his wife, Chris - has done such a fantastic job. They have helped us reach many, many more physician families with their efforts on behalf of the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House."  

The Scott County Medical Society and its 210 active physicians have supported the hospice project, as well.  The organization will match contributions by its physicians of up to $15,000 in total - a gift to the community in honor of the medical society's 150th birthday.  Inspired by a presentation by Dr. Motto, the society's Executive Committee decided to contribute savings that the society had accumulated over decades to this worthy cause. 

"The physicians felt the hospice house touched all specialties and all parts of our community," says Cathy Whittlesey, Executive Vice President of the Quad City Medical Society Office.  The society's only funds come from annual membership dues, she adds, but over decades, it had put away enough money to make the significant contribution possible. 

In addition, the Scott County Medical Society Alliance, the organization of physician spouses, is coordinating an auction as part of the Scott County Medical Society's Nov. 4th Sesquicentennial Celebration.  All proceeds from the event will go toward the hospice house.  

"As physicians, our goals is to provide the best quality of care to enable our patients to live a healthy life," says Prakash Bontu, M.D., who is President of the Scott County Medical Society.  "But when we've done everything we can for them, we also want them to be able to die with dignity.  We feel that the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House will provide them that opportunity." 

Serenity and Support
End-of-life care is difficult.  Patients at this stage are acutely ill and need continuous care.  Many homes are not large enough to accommodate the patient, his or her medical equipment, the round-the-clock caregivers and the ongoing activities of a family.  Sometimes, dying at home is not a viable option. 

Dr. Habak recalls a visit he made once to a hospice patient's home.  "It was a small house, and the only place the family could place a hospital bed was in their living room," he says.  "I observed the impact of caring for such a patient in his house and the disruption in the daily routine and family life imposed upon everyone in the household.  It showed me that there comes a time when dying at home is not a suitable situation for patients and their family." 

Last year, his own family experienced the difficulties of end-of-life care when his brother-in-law died from pancreatic cancer. 

"There came a time when his family could not tend to his needs any longer or keep him comfortable at home.  To care for someone like that 24 hours a day is very, very difficult.  Often, families carry this burden for too long," Dr. Habak says.  "He spent the last few days of his life in a hospice room at his hometown hospital." 

The Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House will offer more homelike surroundings than a hospital, he adds. 

More Like Home
The standalone Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House, now under construction near Genesis Medical Park on Maplecrest Road in Bettendorf, will allow for the care of up to 16 patients.  Nurses will be available at all hours of the day, and physicians will make rounds.  Family members and friends will feel welcome and at ease. 

"We envision the hospice house will take family members out of that role of having to remember the medication and undertake all the physical caregiving duties and responsibilities," says Missy Gowey, Executive Director of the Genesis Health Services Foundation.  "When the hospice house opens this fall, families will be able to see their loved ones cared for in a beautiful, home-like setting that brings them serenity and the physical and emotional support they need." 

Cathy Whittlesey and her husband, Dr. Richard Whittlesey, Ph.D., of Genesis Psychology Associates have supported the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House because they both have personally experienced the need for a hospice house in their own lives.  Dr. Whittlesey, who served on one of the community's first hospice boards, has been an advocate for hospice care ever since his first wife died of a brain tumor.  He had two young children at the time. 

"He kept her at home as long as possible, but then she had to go back into the hospital," Cathy Whittlesey says.  "At that point, he recognized a need.  He and his children could have had a more positive experience if there had been a place where she could have gone to die in peaceful surroundings - without the trepidation that kids and families experience when they're in the critical care setting of a hospital." 

Her own mother died of lung cancer in the hospital.  "If the kind of care she needed would have been available in a hospice setting - a calming place where you could commune and feel like part of the passing - it would have made a very difficult situation far more peaceful.  A hospital is a place to treat sick people, as it should be.  It's not the calm, quiet, personal place to spend the last days of life's journey." 

Dr. Habak agrees.  He knows his wife, Hermina, who died in 2002, would have supported the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House and hopes that the sunroom in her memory will help lighten the weariness of families preparing to say goodbye to a loved one. 

For him, the opportunity to commemorate his beloved wife - a woman who made an indelible contribution to many health-related projects in the community and across the state of Iowa - has been quite gratifying.  "This will be a wonderful place for patients and their families." 

You Can Help
Charitable gifts, no matter what their size, still are need to fund the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House.  To make a pledge or gift in honor of or in memory of a loved one in support of the hospice house, please contact the Genesis Foundation at (563) 421-6865.  

-- Story by Linda Barlow, Genesis