By Haley Jones, Director of Development and Marketing
Brittany Ogden has given many years to Memorial Health System (MHS). Most of those years were spent on the third floor of Memorial Hospital in the ROSE (Rehabilitation of Special Elderly) Behavioral Unit, which was an inpatient geriatric psychiatric unit. Through an unfortunate closing of that unit, MHS staff and patients will still benefit from her expertise as a Social Worker with her move to Home Health and Hospice of Dickinson County (HH&H). The staff is excited to add a full-time Social Worker to their team. It goes without saying; that Brittany is a welcome addition!
In October of 2014, Brittany started at Learn and Grow Depot, the childcare center formerly operated and owned by MHS. At that time, she was only working part-time as a Teacher Assistant while attending Washburn University for her Master’s in Social Work. Upon graduation, the ROSE Unit had an opening for a Social Worker, and that is where she spent the last eight years until it closed in January of this year.
Before Brittany joined the team at HH&H, they relied on Social Workers Wendi Pratt and Susie Gassman to provide social services to their patients. Susie provided the bereavement services. With the collaboration of HH&H and Community Bible Church in 2023, free classes were offered through the GriefShare program to anyone needing support after losing a loved one. Brittany has been attending this program with Susie so that she may learn from her and “eventually” lead the classes this fall.
Wendi Pratt is a Social Worker for the Memorial Hospital’s Inpatient Unit, and she was sharing her hours with HH&H. She provided services to patients and family members while the patient was receiving hospice care. With Wendi, these visits were scheduled bi-weekly, or even monthly. Now that Brittany has taken over for Wendi, the amount of visits will double for patients and their families. This is a huge benefit for patients and families.
Brittany explains the process of how her services start with the patient on hospice, “After the nurse goes out to see the patient, I get a referral. Insurance requires me to see the patient within five days from the patient being admitted to hospice, so once I get that referral I start making calls to the family and schedule a time to come see them and the patient.”
Brittany provides services on the home health side too, but this is a more “as needed” situation. Since she has been part of the HH&H team, she has worked with five or six home health patients. “I have helped them with filling out Medicaid applications, finding paid caregivers, setting up Meals on Wheels services; those types of things. So, if the nurse thinks the patient needs help with these kinds of services, they just let me know.”
Although her job title stayed the same, the tasks and work pace are not. Brittany described the difference between being a Social Worker on the ROSE Unit and being a Social Worker for HH&H. “When I was on the ROSE Unit I did all the admissions, all the discharges; I would find placement for people if they needed assisted living or long term care, or maybe they just needed home health services to be able to return to their home, so I would help set that up. I also worked closely with the psychiatrist, reporting any behavior changes, and documenting any quotes that were directly from the doctor or the patient in case insurance would request the records. I led the morning and afternoon activities, which could be difficult at times because most of the patients had dementia.”
Working with hospice patients is a bit different. Brittany did her practicum with Hospice of Salina so she said she was able to “get her feet wet” when it came to dealing with death and dying. “On the ROSE Unit, it was something I was watching for, and I was prepared to have those conversations with the family. Many times behaviors can be associated with people who are getting ready to pass away. With patients on hospice, I don’t have to have those tough conversations.”
Now death is very much a part of what Brittany deals with, “A lot of people I am working with now are in their 80’s and 90’s and they have accepted the fact that they are dying. Some of them are hurting and are ready for it. If the patients are cognitive, sometimes they just want someone to visit with. I like to be able to help them with any needs or goals before they pass away.” She went on to share some examples of those end-of-life goals. “One lady wanted to spend more time outside, but couldn’t do it alone for safety reasons, so we would go on walks. Another lady wanted to reconnect with her sister. Just yesterday, the patient I am working with asked to help her get things sorted in her apartment and given to family members.”
“I loved my time on the ROSE Unit. Honestly, if it wouldn’t have closed I probably would have never left. I have been part of Memorial Health System for so long, that I am very happy to be able to stay in the system. I loved my coworkers; we were like a family. However, I love working with both home health and hospice patients because they are more cognitive and I get to have more conversations with them. I love working with the families too. This has definitely made me get out of my comfort zone, and I am happy to be learning and growing in my career.”