WEEK OF DECEMBER 5, 2024
VOLUME 11 | ISSUE 46
FREE
Program at Parker hospital provides companionship to those at the end of life
Burglaries hit homes of Asian business owners, sheriff says BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The volunteers of the program are called “compassionate companions.” They do not provide medical care, but they assist with comfort care measures — they sit beside the patient, hold their hands, play soothing music or read to the patients. For as many circumstances there are that lead a person to be hospitalized, there are also as many reasons why a patient is alone.
A string of burglaries at the homes of Asian business owners who live in Douglas County has caused losses of roughly $1 million this year, according to the Douglas County Sheriff ’s Office. The burglars strike while the victims are at work, often outside of the county, according to the office. “We have seen over 10 occurrences in 2024, including five in the last month and a half,” the sheriff ’s office told Colorado Community Media in a mid-November statement. In one case, the same residence was burglarized twice, but the others were hit once, according to the office. Other burglaries occur, such as when a garage gets broken into or someone opens a back door, said Deputy Cocha Heyden, a spokesperson for the sheriff ’s office. But “the ones that fit this profile, or fit this technique, fit targeting business owners,” are burglaries reported that have Asian victims, Heyden said. “I have no idea if there’s any other victims out there from any other backgrounds from any other businesses that haven’t reported to us,” Heyden said, adding: “The ones that have been reported to us, they all (have) Asian victims.” The victims aren’t associated with just one type of business, Heyden said. “We cannot say they are targeting Asian business owners; all we can say is that is who has reported the crimes to us,” Heyden said.
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Katherine Wiley, right, speaks with one of the chaplains at AdventHealth Parker. Wiley was a volunteer in the hospital’s emergency department COURTESY OF KATHERINE WILEY before becoming the volunteer coordinator for the new No One Dies Alone program.
The new program seeks additional ‘compassionate companions’ BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Katherine Wiley, a volunteer at AdventHealth Parker, was in the hospital’s emergency department when she
saw first-hand how being alongside a stranger during their final moments of life can have a profound impact on those around them. Wiley sat with an elderly woman who was dying with no one around. The patient’s sons were trying to get to the hospital from Colorado Springs but didn’t make it in time. “When they got there, I told them that I had been with their mom so she was not alone and they were very
grateful,” said Wiley. Wiley shared this story with the CEO of the hospital, Michael Goebel, at the annual volunteer luncheon last year, and the following week, the No One Dies Alone program was being set up. “We can provide companionship to patients in the dying process who are truly alone,” said Wiley. “In doing so, (it) provides a gift of respect and dignity to another human being at the end of life.”
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