The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Hospice center closing upsetting

To the Editor:

It was late in the evening on Labor Day 2014 when the ambulance transporting my Mom from Parkview Hospital stopped in front of the Inpatient Hospice Center. Earlier in the day, my family made the heart-wrenching decision, after hearing the latest results of the medical tests from my Mom’s traumatic brain injury, to make the move to hospice.

Even though the decision we made was the most difficult one our family had ever experienced, the choice of the Inpatient Hospice Center was easy. We knew of its reputation and services from family and friends who had used the facility in the past.  We knew, after only a few minutes after arrival, the choice we had made was the right one.

We spent the next 13 days, 24 hours a day, at the Hospice Center with Mom. The nurses and staff were there to make Mom and my family as comfortable as possible. They responded to Mom’s needs with urgency and addressed our questions and concerns with caring and compassion. They were there with us when Mom took her last breath, as they were with countless of other families over the years.

I will leave others to ask the questions of CHP’s Brent Tow and the Board of Trustees that need to be asked, even though I am extremely interested in their answers. Questions such as: How long has it been known that closure was a possibility? How did this financial failure occur? How were the funds raised during special events and donations spent? Where was the CHP leadership and what did they do to try and change the course of this outcome? 

As with any “business”, did the CHP leadership not understand this wonderful facility still needed to be continually marketed?

I hope others in the community are as angry and concerned as I am about the closure of this wonderful facility as this is not only a loss to the Van Wert community but another loss to the families of loved ones who passed through the Inpatient Hospice Center.

Respectfully submitted,

Teresa Hunsaker (daughter of Shirley Hunsaker)

730 Susan Drive

via email

POSTED: 03/04/19 at 8:27 am. FILED UNDER: Letters to the Editor