Supportive Care

By: Kim Getzoff

When someone is nearing the end of life, there is nothing more comforting than the closeness of friends and family. This is the idea behind the new double bed at the Stewart Cancer Center at Boone Hospital.

This larger bed, purchased with donations to the Boone Hospital Foundation, has all the required medical features, but is big enough for a husband, wife or child to sleep next to a loved one who is receiving supportive care. 

Supportive Care Nurse Amanda Schmidt has been at Boone for six years. She and other nurses saw the need for this type of bed years ago. 

“I’ve had husband, wives, even grandchildren who climb into the twin hospital bed to sleep with their loved ones, just to be close to them,” Schmidt says. “It was uncomfortable but they wanted to be close. So we would just pull up the rails and realized then that we needed a better option than this.”

Last fall, David Morton and his daughter Taylor of Hallsville spent two weeks in the Stewart Cancer Center while his 27-year-old wife, Mallory, was being treated for ovarian cancer. This was before the double bed had arrived so David spent each night on the sleeper sofa in Mallory’s room. 

Morton says he’s grateful for the wonderful care his wife received but wishes they had been able to share a bed during those last days.

“If we would have had a chance to have a ‘regular’ bed, it would have brought more comfort to both of us during that time, to make it feel more like home and less like a hospital,” Morton says. 

In March, Boone Hospital Foundation was able to purchase a double bed so family members can be as close and comfortable as possible. The full-sized hospital bed, a down comforter and luxury linens cost about $9,000 and has a special mattress to prevent ulcers. The room with the bed is larger than other rooms and has a lift that allows patients to be moved easily. If the bed is available, patients can request to use it or may be assigned there if they have many family members who will be visiting them. The bed is also more comfortable for larger patients who need more room than a regular twin can provide. 

For more information about how you can support the Boone Hospital Foundation’s mission, go to www.boone.org/foundation or call 573-815-2800.