Lloyd Family Shares Their Experience with Hospice Care

Hospice care is more than just medical support. At the Dougherty Hospice House it can be considered a home away from home, where staff aim to offer patients and their families the assistance and comfort they need during this difficult time.

Craig Lloyd was known as a development leader in the Sioux Falls community, building homes and more throughout the city.

“He had a big heart, so he just kept trying to improve things, his thought was always ‘God put me on this Earth to make it better,’” said Craig’s wife, Pat Lloyd. “Craig was always thinking about other people, always wanted a party, liked to have the party, make the party, sit back and watch others have a good time."

Utilizing Hospice Care

He passed away earlier this year. His wife Pat says his final days were made comfortable thanks to the Avera hospice team.

“Craig had pulmonary fibrosis, so he had been diagnosed probably about two and a half years before he passed,” said Lloyd. “Breathing became a huge issue for him and he had a need for oxygen 24/7.”

At first the hospice team helped provide support for Craig in his home, but the decision was eventually made to move him to the Dougherty Hospice House.

“It was a tough night for us. He stayed here one night and two of the girls were up with him all night and I found myself keep getting up to come and check on him,” said Lloyd. “I asked him if he would consider going to the Dougherty Hospice House and I’m not sure I had the words out of my mouth and he said, ‘the Dougherty House would be great, there’s a lot of good things that have happened at the Dougherty Hospice House.’”

“He was transferred here and we were able to get him a lot more comfortable, and it’s nice here because family after they’ve been caretakers for so long can just be the loved ones, they can love on the patient and be there with them and we become the caretakers then,” said Andy Schumacher, who is the clinical coordinator at the Avera Dougherty Hospice House.

What is Offered at Dougherty Hospice House?

Schumacher says they have a full team ready to create a care plan for your loved one and support them wholly, meaning physically, mentally and spiritually.

“We have a 16-bed facility, we are staffed 24 hours with nurses, care techs, we have a physician on call at all times, we have nurse practitioners here available for our patients, full time pharmacist, social work, chaplaincy and bereavement, so we are really well staffed and able to take care of those more acute problems people may be having,” said Schumacher.

“We were really able to focus on him and not the whole medical thing, because they were there to really watch every bit of that and make sure he was comfortable,” said Lloyd.

Focus on Time Spent With Family

“Being with those families, supporting those families, supporting those patients, to really make the most of the last time that they have together and giving them as much comfort as we can,” said Schumacher.

Allowing these final moments to be spent celebrating Craig and reflecting and saying goodbye.

“The treatment that we got, and all of us got, we were treated unbelievably, everything was made to feel so peaceful, except for the party that they let us have in there, too,” said Lloyd. “I think the word respect just really comes to mind for the entire Avera team, from in the hospital, to the doctors that were available, everyone just really respected and honored Craig’s dignity.”

Craig was also in Florida at the time when he needed hospice care and Pat credits the work of Avera and the hospice team in making a smooth transition for Craig from there to home in Sioux Falls and then to Dougherty Hospice House. Learn more about hospice care options at Avera.