Mary Denise is a Nurse Coordinator, Palliative Medicine and Comfort Care Team, and Associate Director of the Center for Ethics in Health Care at OHSU.
Salvation Army Quilt Ladies present their quilts to the Center's Associate Director, Barbara Glidewell.
The Companion Quilt Program
The Companion Quilt program at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) serves to support dying patients and their families with compassion. A Companion Quilt is placed on the bed of a dying patient, then given to their family member as they leave the hospital for the last time. The quilt helps to create a home-like environment within the hospital room as an aid to shift the focus from ongoing medical care to one focused on saying good-bye and supporting the patient and family. The quilt also gives families an object connected to the patient at a sacred time, and may be the first step in the family's healing process.
Your quilt provides great comfort to families, knowing there are members in our community who want to acknowledge their loss and provide support.
If you or a group would like to contribute a quilt (or quilts) to this program, please note the following details:
Newly crafted quilts need not be full size - ideally, they should be around 42-44" wide and 46-50" long;
Use cotton, flannel, washable cloth;
Light or medium weight batting;
Can be very simple envelope quilt (two pieces of material and batting sewn together with a few ties). Of course we welcome more artistic ones (i.e. pieced, quarter yard designs appliquéd), but not necessary. Theme quilts are nice (think about men, women, and variety of topics as well as just colorful patterns-i.e. floral, patterns, prints;
We need around 400-500 quilts per year;
We welcome clean old quilts that can be used in sizes other than that listed above.
If you are interested in contributing to or learning more about this program, please contact the Center for Ethics in Health Care: 503-494-4466, or ethics@ohsu.edu.
Acknowledgement to the Donors
We wish to express our heartfelt appreciation to the following donors to the Companion Quilt Program. Their donations of Quilts and Afghans provide immeasurable loving comfort to patients and their families who are experiencing emotional loss at the end of life.
Individual Donors:
Bobbi Ashbaugh
Jack and Cora Battalia
Judy Burgoine
Sam Cesario
Holly, Hanna & Gracie Cesario
Cheryl Hartley
Mary Hughes
Barbara J Koch
Carol Potter
Lisa Andrus- Rivera and Carlos Rivera
Mrs. Eva Rivera
Marjorie Sellers
Mary Stock
Linda Taylor
Susan Tolle, M.D.
Organizations:
Quilt Ladies of Salvation Army
Zion Lutheran Shawl Ministries