11th Hour Volunteer Connects with Patients and Families to Provide Comfort

November 22, 2024

Jenny Brown, a dedicated 11th-hour volunteer at Bluegrass Care Navigators in our Northern Kentucky region, has spent 13 years volunteering with BCN in a variety of ways, but her favorite is 11th hour. In this role, Jenny offers comforting companionship to patients in their final moments, providing additional support to the patient and family. 

One of Jenny’s most profound experiences was during an early morning 11th-hour visit with a couple who had been together for 58 years. While the patient’s partner rested in the other room, Jenny sat quietly by the patient’s bedside, offering prayers and a gentle, comforting touch. As the first light of dawn broke, the partner returned, and Jenny softly encouraged him to speak to his loved one. With tender affection, he stroked his partner’s face and whispered, “I love you.” In those sacred moments, Jenny not only brought comfort to the dying man but also connected deeply with his partner, listening to stories of their beautiful life together.


“Life and death are hard,” she said. “Whatever impact I can make on a family or individual to ease their journey during their lifetime, I want to do it.”


For Jenny, these moments are a blessing, a way to use her own journey for good, and a testament to the power of love and companionship at the end of life.


Bluegrass Care Navigators is committed to providing expert care with compassion. Our team of clinicians and volunteers work together to ensure that each person receives the care they would want for their own family members. Your generosity today will help us continue to serve friends and neighbors in our communities and ensure that no one passes alone. 




Make a Gift to Support Patients and Families
November 22, 2024
After Julie’s parents passed when she was a teenager, she grieved for years. Twenty years ago, she saw a newspaper ad asking for volunteers at Bluegrass Care Navigators and felt compelled to help others in ways she hadn’t been able to provide for her own parents. Now, as an 11 th hour volunteer in our Northern Kentucky region, Julie provides a comforting presence to patients in their final moments without family nearby.
November 22, 2024
For Milly Burkhart, being an 11th Hour Volunteer is a sacred and holy honor. In this role, she provides the comfort of presence to Eastern Kentucky patients in their final moments who don’t have family nearby. Milly, and her fellow 11 th hour volunteers, answer the call, no matter the time of day or night to sit with patients when it’s needed most.
November 14, 2024
Our team goes above and beyond to provide expert, compassionate care at just the right time to our patients and families. But we provide more than compassionate healthcare. At Bluegrass Care Navigators, we believe that no one should pass alone.
November 6, 2024
Bluegrass Care Navigators (BCN) is joining organizations across the country in celebrating National Hospice and Palliative Care Month this November. As a leading provider of compassionate, high-quality care, BCN recognizes the positive impact hospice and palliative care have on patients and families, providing comfort, dignity, and support during life’s most challenging moments.
October 28, 2024
WHAS Crusade for Children awarded Bluegrass Care Navigators (BCN) a $6500 grant to purchase a Trilogy Evo Ventilator to better support children and teens in our hospice care. This ventilator is a cross-functional machine that is designed for use in multiple environments. With 15 hours of battery life, it allows patients an increased level of mobility to achieve a higher quality of life during treatment.
September 27, 2024
Bluegrass Care Navigators (BCN) has been ranked sixth in Overall Quality among the 50 largest hospices in the United States, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine. The ranking is based on three key quality indicators: caregiver surveys (CAHPS scores), caregiver and employee satisfaction scores, and sentiment scores from Google reviews and Glassdoor ratings. The study assessed both non-profit and for-profit hospices across the nation.
September 3, 2024
Our Northern Kentucky Team recently provided dignity and the comfort of hospice care to a non-English speaking family with a terminally ill baby. After being born with a heartbreaking prognosis, the baby was expected to survive only two weeks.
September 3, 2024
Our commitment to provide compassionate care to all, regardless of financial situation, is exemplified in the care we recently provided to a hospice patient with COPD, who had no insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.
September 3, 2024
Our central Kentucky hospice team recently cared for a Muslim refugee patient and her family as she faced a terminal diagnosis along with numerous challenges, including language barriers, financial struggles and food insecurity.
August 29, 2024
TJ Buckles shows all who know him how to live with resilience, courage and superhuman strength.
More Posts
Share by: