{"id":115802,"date":"2019-04-03T08:32:13","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T13:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=115802"},"modified":"2019-04-03T08:32:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-03T13:32:19","slug":"local-man-thankful-for-wifes-health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2019\/04\/03\/local-man-thankful-for-wifes-health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Local man thankful for wife’s health care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GREG YINGER\/<\/strong>for the VW independent<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Rollins of Van Wert is thankful for local services that were made available to him while he cared for his wife, Ethel, as she battled dementia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
John Rollins (center) talking with CHP Home Care & Hospice staff members (from the left) Julie Stutz, Lonnie Leverton, April Brown, and Kayla Wannemacher.<\/strong> CHP photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHome care helped me a lot,\u201d Rollins said. \u201cI had my mind made up early that we were going to keep her at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as many caregivers will attest, making that goal a reality can be difficult. For Rollins, help was found through CHP Home Care & Hospice and adult day services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal as an agency is to offer as many services as possible to assist families who are caring for aging, disabled, injured, or ill loved ones and help keep them at home,\u201d said Cindy Sinning, RN, Nursing Supervisor for CHP Home Care & Hospice of Van Wert. \u201cWe were founded back in 1975 as a home health care agency, and that has always been our primary focus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through CHP, a schedule was developed to meet both Ethel\u2019s care needs and John\u2019s needs as a caregiver. Home health care nurses and aides from CHP came to the couple\u2019s home twice a week to check on Ethel, assist with her medications, and give her a bath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was impressed with how they worked together \u2013 coordinating schedules – to cover her needs,\u201d Rollins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But because Ethel\u2019s health rendered her unable to do anything for herself, even home care alone was not enough to relieve Rollins of the constant need to provide care for his wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJohn was one of the strongest caregivers I\u2019ve seen in all my years of home care,\u201d said Sinning. \u201cHe did everything for her including feeding her, transporting her, lifting her, taking her to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was all done out of love, but nonetheless, it took a toll on him. So, CHP\u2019s Adult Day Center was added to the mix and for three days a week, John transported Ethel to the center to have her daily needs taken care of, and just as importantly, give him some time away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could run to do errands, pay a bill, and go home and relax and kick back a while,\u201d Rollins said. \u201cIt meant a lot because her care needs were constant.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, Ethel\u2019s health continued to decline to the point that her physician mentioned hospice care. Rollins said at first, he was not on board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hospice has a stigma to it,” said Rollins. \u201cBut, I found that it can be positive because it\u2019s so much help. I really relied on the nurses to guide us through this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rollins appreciated having local nurses and staff that were not only familiar names and faces but were readily available whenever there was a need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ethel and John Rollins<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rollins appreciated having local nurses and staff that were not only familiar names and faces but were readily available whenever there was a need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI called to talk to our nurse, Deb, and she was there right away,\u201d Rollins said. \u201cThey answered questions, stayed late, taught me how to keep her comfortable, and provided information about what to expect. I would call and ask them to talk me through things and they\u2019d do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethel Rollins spent over a year on hospice services at home before passing in February. As he reflects back now, Rollins describes it all as a \u201cvery positive experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the mental and emotional support of hospice helped me more than the physical because I\u2019m the kind of guy who thinks [when faced with the difficulty of caring for a loved one] you just suck it up and do it. But you don\u2019t realize how much help you need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even now, the support of hospice continues as staff checks up on him and bereavement support services are offered. Having experienced it first hand, Rollins now says he recommends that people in similar situations consider hospice earlier than later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tell people to look into it,\u201d he said. \u201cI should have inquired more. I tell people don\u2019t be afraid to ask questions. There\u2019s so much that hospice can do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor’s note: In February, CHP announced that it was repurposing the Van Wert Area Inpatient Hospice Center, effective April 1. The facility is now closed, but work is progressing on developing new opportunities for the building. Updates will be provided as plans materialize.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GREG YINGER\/for the VW independent John Rollins of Van Wert is thankful for local services that were made available to him while he cared for his wife, Ethel, as she battled dementia. \u201cHome care helped me a lot,\u201d Rollins said. \u201cI had my mind made up early that we were going to keep her at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 12:16:21","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}