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  • I just thought I'd check in and see if there was anyone on this list going to Green Gulch on Saturday for the day-long for volunteers. I'll be there - hope to see you too, perhaps! This will be my first time there, and I'm very excited about it.
  • Oh thanks, Greg!
  • Here is the link to the SF Chronicle article and video on the hospice ward at Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco:

    Article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/26/BALM12I...

    Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1407952648/bctid17538...
  • I'll put it up for you.
  • Hmm I guess the link isn't showing up?

  • Hi Greg - Yes, I saw that piece as well - I am attaching a link to the SFGate article/video so that people who want to check it out have access to it:

    Not sure what the current status is on the Guest House; I do know that the ZHP office is located on Divisidero for the time being...

    Thanks for the welcome!
  • Welcome Lilliana. I enjoyed watching the Ch7 news report on Laguna Honda last Fall. Did you see it? What is the latest on the Guest House reopening?

    Thanks for becoming part of our community.

    Greg
    HCF Creator
  • Hello, my name is Lilliana and I've been volunteering with ZHP for almost one year. Grateful to be a part of this organization.
  • Hi all, I am a 6-year volunteer, entirely at night at Laguna Honda.
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Vigiling at the Guest House -- Listening To Your Inner Guide

Listening To Your Inner GuideWhen I first began volunteering in 1996, I was trained by Frank Ostaseski, the founder of the Zen Hospice Project. Zen Hospice had a residential facility with 5 beds called the Guest House, which is where I served the evening shift from 5:00pm - 10:00pm. Zen Hospice was unique in that volunteers served a very active role in the care of patients from sitting at the bedside to cooking, bathing and washing their clothes to name a few. This is rare in today's hospice…

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ZHP Volunteer Stan Goldberg's New Book

Hi to all my ZHP Volunteer Friends: I was a volunteer at the Guest House for almost 8 years. I recently read Stan Goldberg's new book published by Shambala, Lessons for the Living: Stories of Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Courage at the End of Life, which includes his experiences while at the GH. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. For those of you who may have been at the GH just before it closed, it will be especially meaningful. Namaste. Greg Schneider HCF Creator

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I Am So Vast

Dear ZHP Community, I just made a journal entry in the Hospice Volunteer Journal group relating to a ZHP experience I had as a volunteer at the Guest House. There is also an associated poem titled "I Am So Vast" in the Poetry & Quotes group.Greg

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CAREGIVERS STORE

Recently Published!!
by Maryclaire Torinus

Surviving Hospice: A Chaplain's Journey into the Big Business of Dying Plus: How To Find a Trustworthy Hospice 

This narrative is an insider’s look into the hijacking of hospice by private equity and professional investors and the subsequent harm to patients, their families, and to the interdisciplinary clinical teams. It was released by a NYC publisher on October 31, 2023. For sale on Amazon.

The author, a hospice chaplain, tells end-of-life stories of her patients who were harmed by financially-motivated policies. This is a book for anyone who is embarking on making a choice about a hospice for their loved one, working chaplains, those in training, and those interested in what dying is like with a hospice who places patients as their primary stakeholders.

Maryclaire's experience working for an owner who sold to a private equity firm helped her to realize that the reputation and viability of hospice is in jeopardy. Her goal is to alert all who love hospice to rid it of professional investors.

— Stacy Juba, author, editor, and award-winning health journalist

"Powerful, beautifully written, and eye-opening, this book spotlights the inner workings of a multi-billion-dollar industry and the effect on patients, families, and hospice staff. The author shares poignant accounts of hospice at its best and worst and the hard-hitting truths she learned on her journey. A must-read for family members exploring hospice care."

— Laura Kukowski, CEO, editor, For-Profit Badger Hospice, LLC

"Maryclaire Torinus speaks with authority, providing this essential handbook for choosing a hospice care team and why that selection really matters."

Greg Schneider President, HVA, co-author of The Changing Face of Hospice Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care 

"When I first found out that Maryclaire Torinus was writing this book, I immediately contacted her because in my 25+ years supporting hospice volunteers, I have seen a gradual decline in the quality of care volunteers are permitted to provide the dying and their families. There are a variety of reasons for this that I describe in the Foreward of this book. Maryclaire provides invaluable insights that everyone should know, along with solutions to help others make the right choice in choosing a hospice."

Buy Now