“This is the first job that I can honestly say that when I wake up in the morning, I look forward to coming to work,” he said. “I enjoy my job, what I do and serving people. I enjoy putting other people’s needs before mine, and that sums up the statement of what I mean by a sense of purpose.”

Depending on the patient’s needs and continuum of care, Oglesbee may see the same patient only once or multiple times. But that’s enough to build a relationship, and often patient’s families comment on the quality of his care.

“But they don’t understand that they have probably impacted me more than I have impacted them,” he said.

Oglesbee tries to give each family 110 percent and to build a rapport with the patient and family during his delivery. He remembers one patient who really wanted to visit an apple orchard. The family requested portable oxygen tanks for the trip. When Oglesbee delivered the supplies for the trip, the family wasn’t sure they would be able to go due to the patient’s declining health.

One month later, Oglesbee received the ticket to pick up the supplies at this patient’s home after his passing. As he was leaving, the patient’s wife flagged him down in the driveway because she wanted to show him pictures of their visit to the apple orchard that Ken had helped facilitate. The wife told Ken that over the past several months as he had made deliveries, he had also become part of the family.

“To me this job is not just a job,” he said. “This to me is a sense of ministry. I’m getting paid to serve people and to make people happy and comfortable. I would do that for free, but don’t tell Liz, our president, that!”

BCN’s primary goal is to provide compassionate physical, emotional and spiritual care to patients and their families coping with serious illness. If your personal goals align with ours, we’d love to have you apply to join our team! View our open positions and apply at bgcarenav.org/careers.