Patient Stories

Dear Friends, Some of you may remember when Hospice of Frederick County affiliated with FMH Hospice Services in 1997. This created a single entity for the delivery of hospice services in Frederick County, making it easier for those in need to know ...

Lois Spurrier, was known for many things in her life: her 50 years as a teacher in Frederick County; as a musician who sang in the church choir and for the children she taught; a farmer’s wife who never gave up her love of the land; a local radio ...

In 2000, Carl and Norma Miller donated 15 acres of rolling farmland in Mount Airy that would serve as the site of a new hospice house for residents of Frederick County. In addition to donating the land for the new facility, the Millers were actively ...

Like many people, prior to my parents’ experience with hospice, I knew very little about it. I wondered if hospice meant “giving up.” I realize now that it is the exact opposite: it is taking back—taking back control of how—and where—we want to end ...

Larry Stambaugh made it clear to his family and friends that he wanted to spend his last days in the home he built with his own hands on a mountaintop in Emmitsburg 40 years ago. When Frederick Health Hospice began serving Larry, wintery conditions ...

As a life-long educator, Garnet Lynch spent her career teaching children in Frederick County Public Schools for more than 30 years. So it should come as no surprise that her passing provides a lesson to others on how hospice cares for the sick—and ...

The month of June 2020 was a blur for Lauren Nolke. Not only was this working mother of two doing her best to manage the “new normal” thrust upon her by the escalating COVID-19 pandemic, she had just learned that her beloved father, Robert Brenneman, ...

I’ve wanted to be a lot of different things in my life, but I neither wanted nor expected to be an expert on cancer. However, during my late wife Marcia’s battle with the disease, we came to understand cancer far too well. We learned that cancer not ...

Through a partnership with the Frederick Police Department’s Victims Services Unit and the County Health Department, Hospice launched its Overdose Survivor Outreach Program to bring care, comfort and support to the families and friends of individuals ...

Many of us can relate to that feeling of coming across a letter, photo, or other memento that keeps us connected to a special person, place, or time in our lives. To hear a loved one’s voice, read their handwriting, or see their smile in a forgotten ...

George Comert was determined to live independently forever, but that was not to be. As his health declined, he grew weaker and less steady on his feet. After a bad fall, even he had to agree the time had come to move in with his daughter, Lynn Besch, ...

Mother’s Day. A day of celebrating the wonderful women in our lives we call “mom.” But for some of us this can feel like a dreaded day. There are many reasons this day can feel impossibly heavy. Maybe you lost your mother, maybe you lost your child ...