Siragusa Is Hospice Graduate

Hospice Southeastern Connecticut, in Norwich, announces the graduation of 19 new volunteers on March 27.

The volunteers participated in up to 20 hours of training, learning about all aspects of hospice care and their role as volunteers for Hospice Southeastern Connecticut.

Graduating volunteers are the following:

Administrative Volunteers

• Susan Burke, Baltic
• Sharma Howard, Niantic
• Denise Tyburski, Lisbon

Complementary Therapists

• Kay Capozzi-Weiler, Norwich
• Yvonne Masters, Waterford
• Joe Sullivan, Old Lyme

Patient Care Volunteers

• Mary Ellen Christina, Bozrah
• Diana Dash, Hampton
• Priscilla Gebbie, Lebanon
• Jacqui Joseph, Stonington
• Wesley Kenyon, Waterford
• Leesa Lewon, Griswold
• Ryan Martin, New London
• Sue Robinson, East Lyme
• Robin Siragusa, Uncasville
• Patty Small, Norwich
• Shanai Smith, Norwich
• Carol Wright, Colchester

Pet Therapist

• Karen Washington & her German Shepherd Skye, Lisbon

Hospice Southeastern Connecticut has 152 active volunteers. They visit patients and provide respite for caregivers in their homes and in skilled nursing facilities, provide pet therapy and other holistic therapies as well as run errands, pick up medications, deliver equipment, and offer roses of remembrance to bereaved family members. Volunteers also help in the Hospice Southeastern Connecticut office in Norwich and at various fundraising events throughout the year.

All the volunteers will be honored at the Spring Recognition Brunch on April 21, 2012 at the United States Coast Guard Academy’s Officer’s Club in celebration of National Volunteer Week. Volunteer Program Administrator, Lauren Watson said: “Each April we are privileged to pay tribute to the dedication and caring these volunteers bring to our patients, their families, and our staff. We are sincerely grateful for their many gifts and skills.”

For more information on the volunteer program at Hospice Southeastern Connecticut, contact Lauren Watson at lwatson@hospicesect.org or 860-848-5699.

Hospice Southeastern Connecticut provides care in the home and often in skilled nursing facilities for those facing the end of their life, regardless of age, disease or inability to pay.  The organization also provides bereavement services for families in New London County free of charge, regardless of whether their loved one received hospice care.

Hospice Southeastern Connecticut is a community-based, nonprofit healthcare agency in New London County.  It is the only regional hospice affiliated with both Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and The William W. Backus Hospital.  It is Medicare/Medicaid certified, state licensed and CHAP accredited.  Hospice Southeastern Connecticut has been the hospice of choice for over 9,000 families since 1985.