When we think of dying, we'd like to imagine ourselves surrounded by our loved ones. But many people face the final chapter alone in a hospital bed. Fortunately, a team of union members from Upstate Medical University in Syracuse is changing all that.

More than 30 nurses, medical students and other volunteers at UMU recently won an award for their year-old End of Life program, which ensures that no one dies alone at UMU.

Carol Braund, a nurse and member of United University Professions, NYSUT's affiliate at the State University of New York, said the program was brought to UMU by a medical student who saw something similar at a hospital in Oregon. Now, 30 UMU volunteers are on call to sit with patients and read, listen to music or even hold hands during the last 48 to 72 hours of those patients' lives.

"The goal is to make the end of life a more positive experience," said Braund, a volunteer in the program. When hospital nurses determine that a patient is nearing the end of his or her life and will likely be alone, an End of Life volunteer is called. Volunteers sit with patients for two to four hours at a time.

What makes the program possible, Braund noted, is that UMU is a public, teaching hospital. As a public hospital, UMU is able to initiate programs such as End of Life without worrying about issues such as profitability. And because UMU is a SUNY teaching hospital and its medical students will be placed at hospitals across the country, the End of Life program has a real opportunity to proliferate.

"Being a public hospital allows us to do a lot of different things that we wouldn't be able to do if we were private," Braund said.

NYSUT and UUP have been working to ensure that UMU remains public and part of the SUNY system. An ill-advised recommendation by the state Berger Commission calls for merging UMU with the private Crouse Hospital, possibly into a non-SUNY entity. NYSUT and UUP have been lobbying Gov. Spitzer to ensure that UMU stays part of SUNY and continues its vital public mission.

UMU honored Braund, program coordinator Patricia Knox and the rest of the volunteers at a recent reception. Braund hopes she and her colleagues have started something that will still be in place at UMU and many hospitals across America for years to come. The fact that their program is being run from a public, SUNY hospital gives it a great shot.

— Kevin Hart