This holiday season, the CNS Charitable Care Program gave a special gift to families throughout Utah whose loved one passed away with assistance from the CNS Hospice Program in the last year.

“Coping with grief is always difficult and the holiday season really amplifies feelings of loss,” said Laura Thomas, Director of Philanthropy for CNS.

The reality of hospice care and how CNS provides end-of-life comfort and dignity.

As Utah’s first home hospice care agency, CNS has provided compassionate end-of-life care to Utah since 1928. We emphasize creating moments and experiences that provide peace of mind to our patients and their families. Being admitted into hospice care or watching a loved one enter it can be a scary and overwhelming experience. Death is not easy to face, and that can lead to misconceptions or myths about hospice care. We’re here to clear that up and share how CNS helps patients and their families navigate this difficult part of life.

Home bound for over two years—a hospice patient finally gets his wish.

With advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and on hospice with CNS since late 2019, Orval Hayes had been bed-ridden for two years, and was unable to leave his home since before the pandemic. One of our CNS chaplains, Roy Olson has visited Orval weekly for most of this time. Roy has enjoyed these visits and shares, “Orval is such a neat guy. People like him always bring your day back up—he’s that encouraging. I always save my visit with him for the last one in the day because he is such a joy to be around.”

The 2021 year was a whirlwind of activity and we are very proud of the work we were able to accomplish with amazing support from our community—you! We continue to grow our impact in the community through the CNS Charitable Care Program.

The CNS Honor Salute program honors CNS hospice patients who are veterans. It is a simple but powerful tribute of appreciation for the veteran’s service to our country. Most often it is the last moment of public thanks they will receive.