The fire that struck the Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst didn’t injure anyone. Yet it stole something precious from people nearing the ends of their lives: time in a special place.
Fires and the brave efforts mounted to extinguish them turn intimate places like homes into messy, ugly ruins. That’s disruptive wherever fires strike, but doubly so in a cozy place like the Fisher Home, a residence for people with terminal conditions who seek comfort and care in their last months.
They come wanting quality and stability in the time that remains. A fire brings chaos.
On the night of the July 22 fire, all six current hospice residents were quickly moved to safety outside and then transferred to the New England Health Center in Sunderland, a smooth and humane shift that’s a credit to employees at both programs. Fisher Home staff members are now working side by side with people at the nursing home to provide the unique palliative care at the heart of the hospice movement.
Thanks to a disaster plan recently put into place, the first hours and weeks after the fire have gone well.
Now, a quieter challenge arises. Hospice patients and their families must adjust to what may be their final address in Sunderland, when they had expected to complete their lives amid familiar faces and their most cherished belongings at the program in north Amherst.
And the nonprofit hospice must get its house in order. Luckily, it possesses both good insurance coverage and a deep reserve of goodwill in the community. Elizabeth Weissbach, the program’s executive director, said the program has received an “overwhelming” number of offers of help. She is inviting supporters to contribute through the program’s website, fisherhome.org. Donations can also be mailed to the home at 1165 North Pleasant St., Amherst, MA 01002.
There is a simple reason this program counts so many allies. Due to the nature of their work, Fisher Home staff members meet their clients at an emotionally fraught time, when the dying and those they will leave behind are desperate for information and support. They need a lot, from basics like pain control and nursing strategies to help with thorny questions about the process of dying.
Families who have benefited remember that hospice workers stood beside them, fearlessly, when they were afraid and uncertain. Care like that creates deep bonds, and that’s why hospice supporters have been stepping up their donations, which they can provide with checks or by bringing good quality clothing to the program’s retail shop at 55 University Drive.
The Fisher Home is down but certainly not out. With months of repairs ahead, prospective patients can still be served by the hospice’s traveling staff. The Fisher Home is the only Massachusetts hospice west of Worcester that provides both care at its center and in patients’ homes.
Alone among health care programs, a hospice exists to escort the mind, body and spirit through the passage we’ll all face, and do so with as much dignity and respect as possible. That essential work continues.