Four Seasons Blog
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Serious Illness & Hospice Care | Home Care | Support Services | Our People | Volunteers | Grief Services | Mission Moments | Foundation
Most Recent Blog Articles
Hospice Myths & Questions Answered
Is Hospice a Place? Hospice is not a place, but rather an approach to care designed to enhance life and can be provided wherever you call home. This could be a private residence, assisted living community, or nursing center. Does involving Hospice Care mean we are...
Cardiac Care at Four Seasons
Authors: Dr. Ruth Thomson, Four Seasons Chief Medical Officer, and Leisl Vale, Four Seasons Marketing Coordinator In partnership with the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) and the American Heart Association (AHA), Four Seasons is...
Four Seasons Becomes Living Wage Certified
Four Seasons, The Care You Trust is proud to announce that it is Living Wage Certified by Just Economics of WNC. In order to be considered Living Wage Certified, an employer must pay all full-time and part-time staff at least the living wage rate as defined by Just...
Winter Weather Safety Tips
At Four Seasons, we care about your loved one’s safety. In this article, you’ll find tips for keeping your aging loved one safe during the cold winter months. Winter weather presents many challenges and potential risks to the elderly; Four Seasons is here to help....
Not All Hospice Providers are The Same: The Four Seasons Difference
Four Seasons is grateful to serve the Western North Carolina community as a non-profit provider of serious illness and hospice care. Being a non-profit provider means that the patient, their loved ones and caregivers are our biggest priorities and we are able to...
Four Seasons’ CNA Nikki Granere Wins 2022 Georgia Crump Certified Nursing Assistant Award
Four Seasons’ recently retired Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Jocelyn Nicole (Nikki) Granere was presented with the 2022 Georgia Crump Award which honors nursing assistants for the heroic work they do every day. The award was presented in a ceremony that also...
Four Seasons Chief Clinical Officer Named 2023 Fellow in Palliative Care Nursing
Four Seasons’ Chief Clinical Officer, Richelle (Rikki) Hooper, MBA, MSN, FNP, ACHPN, NE-BC, has been named a 2023 Fellow in Palliative Care Nursing. Awarded by the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA), the designation of HPNA Fellow in Palliative Care...
Serious Illness & Hospice Care Blog
Cardiac Care at Four Seasons
Authors: Dr. Ruth Thomson, Four Seasons Chief Medical Officer, and Leisl Vale, Four Seasons Marketing Coordinator In partnership with the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) and the American Heart Association (AHA), Four Seasons is...
Hospice Care Helps You Be at Home for the Holidays
If you or a loved one needs Hospice Care, don't wait until after the Holidays. Having Hospice Care means support for the caregiver and comfort for the patient. It gives you and your loved one the chance to embrace these moments and live them with more comfort and...
National Hospice and Palliative Care Month
Four Seasons is grateful to be a leading provider of Palliative and Hospice Care in thirteen counties in Western North Carolina. During November, which is recognized as National Palliative and Hospice Care Month, we are dedicated to increasing awareness and providing...
Hospice Myths & Questions Answered
Is Hospice a Place? Hospice is not a place, but rather an approach to care designed to enhance life and can be provided wherever you call home. This could be a private residence, assisted living community, or nursing center. Does involving Hospice Care mean we are...
The Power of Music Therapy
When COVID-19 rolled into Western North Carolina, questions about how best to care for our community took on a different tone. Hospice families welcome us not only into their homes, but also into emotionally and medically difficult times in their lives. I will never...
Four Seasons Named a 2022 Hospice Honors Recipient
Four Seasons Named a National 2022 Hospice Honors Recipient Four Seasons has been named a 2022 Hospice Honors recipient by HEALTHCAREfirst, a leading provider of billing and coding services, CAHPS surveys, and advanced analytics. Hospice Honors is a prestigious,...
Home Care Blog
Home Safety for Your Aging Loved One
At Four Seasons, we care about your loved one’s safety in their home. In this article, you’ll find ways to improve the safety conditions in their home as well as additional resources. Remove Throw and Area Rugs Rugs of any kind can be a tripping hazard for your loved...
How Does Passive Remote Monitoring Help My Loved One?
Is your loved one at risk of falling in their home? Are you concerned that if unable to call for help, your loved one might be in distress without anyone knowing? Four Seasons Home Care can help with Passive Remote Monitoring. Passive Remote Monitoring, powered by...
Four Seasons Home Care Receives 2022 Best of Home Care Pulse Awards for Fourth Year in a Row
Four Seasons Home Care has received the 2022 Best of Home Care – Provider of Choice Award, Leader in Excellence, and Employer of Choice from Home Care Pulse for the fourth year in a row. These prestigious awards are granted only to top-ranking home care...
Home Care Announces Virtual Monitoring
Four Seasons Home Care is pleased to announce that it will begin offering Passive Remote Monitoring for its clients. Passive Remote Activity Monitoring, powered by Zemplee, is the use of digital technology to collect daily activity data within a client’s home and...
Patient & Family Support Services Blog
National Hospice and Palliative Care Month
Four Seasons is grateful to be a leading provider of Palliative and Hospice Care in thirteen counties in Western North Carolina. During November, which is recognized as National Palliative and Hospice Care Month, we are dedicated to increasing awareness and providing...
Ritual as a Means of Processing Grief
It was the same spot where he sat the day before. On that day, with his mother and brothers, he watched his father’s casket slowly sink into the ground. I watched intently as the pain of grief took control of his countenance and moved him to his knees from where he...
So, What about the 5 Stages of Grief?
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross is considered to be one of the pioneers of the hospice movement. Still a relatively new approach to end-of-life care, the hospice movement began in the US in the early 1970s. The first established hospice opened in 1974 in Branford, Connecticut....
The Power of Music Therapy
When COVID-19 rolled into Western North Carolina, questions about how best to care for our community took on a different tone. Hospice families welcome us not only into their homes, but also into emotionally and medically difficult times in their lives. I will never...
Learning to Stand Again
After losing his wife, Robin, Bill Tankersley struggled to stand again. Through volunteering at Four Seasons, Bill slowly found his purpose again. Read about how volunteering and supporting the people who cared so dearly for his wife helps Bill to push through even...
A Day in the Life of a Social Worker by Kelly Caudle
Meeting people for the first time is always interesting. Inevitably, someone is going to ask, “What do you do for a living?”. I explain I am a Hospice social worker and immediately, the eyes widen, and you hear a slight gasp followed by “Wow…it takes a special person...
Four Seasons Mission Moments
Read stories from families we have been privileged to serve and from our treasured team members.
The Power of Music Therapy
When COVID-19 rolled into Western North Carolina, questions about how best to care for our community took on a different tone. Hospice families welcome us not only into their homes, but also into emotionally and medically difficult times in their lives. I will never...
We Provide Trusted Collaboration
Four Seasons is committed to providing Trusted Collaboration because we believe that we can best serve our patients by working closely together. The following story told by a Four Seasons team member shows how our staff works together to adapt and care for our...
Wally Ruck’s Gift to Lois’ Linens
Lois’ Linens was established in 2017 in memory of Lois Vera Cruz. When Lois entered Four Seasons hospice care, Four Seasons arranged for a hospital bed to be delivered to her home. Without twin-sized sheets to cover the bed, the family had to purchase them...
Learning to Stand Again
After losing his wife, Robin, Bill Tankersley struggled to stand again. Through volunteering at Four Seasons, Bill slowly found his purpose again. Read about how volunteering and supporting the people who cared so dearly for his wife helps Bill to push through even...
Blessed by Care, Wisdom, & Ongoing Support
As shared by David Riddle, Spouse of Hospice Patient My wife, Peggy Riddle, entered hospice care in October 2019 and entered heaven on February 8, 2020. Throughout that time, our family was repeatedly blessed by the care, wisdom, and ongoing support from Peggy’s care...
A Simple Fishing Trip
Sometimes casting a fishing pole in the water is the best gift a person can get and that was certainly true with this story. Years ago, a patient was referred to Four Seasons that was a good candidate to take part in a Clinical Research Trial on managing pain caused...
Our People
Read stories about our leaders & staff (see our Volunteer Blog below as well).
Four Seasons’ CNA Nikki Granere Wins 2022 Georgia Crump Certified Nursing Assistant Award
Four Seasons’ recently retired Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Jocelyn Nicole (Nikki) Granere was presented with the 2022 Georgia Crump Award which honors nursing assistants for the heroic work they do every day. The award was presented in a ceremony that also...
Celebrating Dr. Janet Bull’s Retirement
Dr. Janet Bull's Story Since January 2000, Dr. Janet Bull has faithfully served patients at Four Seasons, both directly and indirectly, and has grown the services of Four Seasons to better serve our community. We are so grateful for Dr. Bull's work at Four Seasons for...
Jill Benson Awarded Pay It Forward Scholarship
Four Seasons, the Care You Trust is pleased to award the Julie Thompson Pay It Forward Scholarship in honor of Edna and Norman Guice to Jill Benson. Given annually, this scholarship is for an employee to further his or her education at Blue Ridge Community College...
Four Seasons President & CEO Named Future Leader by Aging Media
Dr. Millicent Burke-Sinclair, Ed.D, MBA, MLAS, SPHR®, SHRM SCP- President and CEO of Four Seasons, The Care You Trust- was named a Future Leader in the Class of 2022 in the Hospice Division by Aging Media. Aging Media recognizes dynamic leaders, ages 40 and under, who...
Four Seasons President & CEO Featured in Carolina Spark Magazine
Four Seasons President & CEO, Dr. Millicent Burke Sinclair, was featured in the January 2022 issue of Carolina Spark Magazine. Spark highlights women in Western North Carolina who are leading the way in their field. We are proud and happy to have one such woman in...
Four Seasons Hires New CMO, Ruth Thomson, DO, MBA, HMDC, FACOI, FAAHPM
Four Seasons, the Care You Trust is pleased to announce our new Chief Medical Officer, Ruth Thomson, DO, MBA, HMDC, FACOI, FAAHPM. Dr. Thomson brings more than 20 years of hospice and palliative care experience to her role of Chief Medical Officer at Four Seasons. She...
Volunteer Blog
Read stories about our volunteers, volunteer opportunities and more!
I Love Volunteering!
If you’ve ever shopped at the Home Store in downtown Hendersonville, Volunteer Mary Coffey is probably no stranger! Her professional background began with a degree in education and later blossomed into a successful career with Maytag International as a Training and...
Patty Vega Home Store Volunteer Spotlight
Patty came to volunteer at Four Seasons after her husband was cared for at Elizabeth House in 2015. He fought a long battle with cancer and, as she recounts, “The services he received and the assistance I was given allowed me to be strong for him and make his last...
Volunteering Here is Special
I first learned about Four Seasons through my student advisor, Vanessa Capps. Four Seasons was a volunteering option available to me to complete my hours for the Work-Based Learning Program at Blue Ridge Community College. Before learning of this opportunity, I was...
Finding the Right Place: Volunteer Sandy Williams
It was 1986. I was working at my husband’s dental office raising two teenage daughters and was involved in many community activities when my mother was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. I was devastated. At first, our family managed to care for my mother. As an...
Serving & Educating Our Community
Fritz and Christine (Chris) Becker embody the definition of “salt of the earth.” With backgrounds in service organizations, Fritz and Chris bring a unique and valued perspective to their volunteer work at the Home Store. The Beckers are originally from New York. Fritz...
Finding My Life’s Passion
“Ms. Brenda,” as she’s known around the Foundation, is the definition of love and kindness. Born in Wisconsin, Brenda Shearer’s background is nothing short of impressive. She holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in Reading Language Arts, has co-authored four...