Wilson Health Hospice Celebrates 37 Years of Service

Wilson Health Hospice has been serving the area residents since 1987. Just three years after being recruited to coordinator and start Wilson Home Health Care, Martha Ernst, RN proposed starting hospice care. With the support of Tom Boecker, Assistant Executive Director of Wilson Memorial Hospital at that time, the hospice program began.

Adding hospice in addition to home care provided additional care to those nearing the end of life. The focus of hospice is on the quality of the patients’ lives during those last months and days. Hospice allows the patient to receive pain and symptom management at home, the place they feel most comforting with their friends and family.

Hospice in this country was still in its infancy and had just received Medicare approval for coverage. Wilson Health Hospice was the ninth Medicare Certified hospice in the state of Ohio.

One thing that makes Wilson Health Hospice different is the cross training of staff. Even though Wilson Health Home Care and Wilson Health Hospice are separate agencies, the staff of both are cross trained in home care, hospice and palliative care.

If a patient is in home care and starts to decline they have the choice of choosing Wilson Health Hospice without giving up their home care nurse and aide they have come to think of as family. Hospice covers more services which includes medications, equipment, chaplain, volunteers, and adjunct therapies like music and massage therapy.

This is in addition to the nursing, aides, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and social work they may have received in home care.

The staff at Wilson Health Hospice are very dedicated with many years of service and experience. Hospice was under Martha Ernst’s direction for the first 17 years. Joann Scott has been the Director of Wilson Health Home Care and Hospice since December of 2004. Some of the staff and volunteers Martha recruited are still active.

Carol McMillian Leckey was in the first Wilson Health Hospice volunteer training class in 1984. She has been a volunteer for 37 years. In the spring of 2024 Martha Ernst and Joann Scott both went through Wilson Health Hospice Volunteer Training Program together. It was a refresher course for both after many years.

Joann Scott said, “It is a great privilege to get to serve as a hospice volunteer with both Martha Ernst and Carol Leckey, as well as, the entire team of great hospice volunteers.”

Wilson Health Hospice Medical Director is Dr. Kenneth Bosslet and Assistant Medical Director is Dr. Eric Prenger. Dr. Robert Miller was the first Hospice Medical Director and remained in that role until his retirement in 2016. Dr. Prenger was Assistant Medical Director under Dr. Miller and became Hospice Medical Director. He was Assistant Hospice Medical again under Dr. Hill and now under Dr. Bosslet since 2019.

Dr. Bosslet is no longer in private practice and is available and ready to see hospice patients in their home when needed.

All hospices are not the same.

Joann Scott said, “In the last 20 years I have seen hospices, both for profit and not for profit, come into Sidney and leave or change ownership, while some have returned more than once. During the last 37 years, Wilson Health Hospice has been consistently providing patient and family focused hospice care. It has been a privilege to serve this community providing hospice care for multiple generations of families.”

Wilson Health Hospice is a not for profit hospice serving Shelby, Miami, Champaign, Logan, Auglaize and Darke Counties.