Event Held for First Time Since 2019
ROME, Ga., Oct. 26, 2022 – For the first time since 2019, Heyman Hospice Care on Tuesday night held an in-person memorial service to remember patients and family members served by the organization.
A small crowd gathered at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Rome to remember loved ones who passed in 2021. COVID-19 forced the organization to cancel live events in 2020 and 2021.
Two sisters made the journey to Rome from different parts of Georgia to remember their mother. Fran Jones came from Forsyth and sister LeeAnn Mitchell drove in from Cartersville. Their mom, Shirley Willingham, died in December 2021.
“They are just so loving, caring and compassionate," Jones said of the hospice staff and volunteers, who not only care for the patient but family members as well.
“They really did as good a job taking care of us as they did taking care of our mother," Mitchell said.
Casey Blankenship, Program Director of Heyman Hospice Care, thanked those who attended despite threats of stormy weather.
“I am so grateful for your presence," Blankenship said. “Please know that your loved ones are all very dear and special to us."
Heyman Hospice Care at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center provides compassionate, comfort-oriented home care to patients with a life expectancy of less than six months, serving patients in Floyd, Chattooga, Polk, Bartow and Gordon counties.
Hospice also provides grief support to help families who have experienced a loss. Visit https://bit.ly/3TrCcnJ to learn more about other services provided.
About Atrium Health Floyd
Since 1942, Floyd, now Atrium Health Floyd, has worked to provide affordable, accessible care in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Today, Atrium Health Floyd is a leading medical provider and economic force. As part of the largest, integrated, nonprofit health system in the southeast, it is also able to tap into some of the nation's leading medical experts and specialists with Atrium Health, allowing it to provide the best care close to home – including advanced innovations in virtual medicine and care. At the hub of these services is Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center, a 304-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center. Atrium Health Floyd employs more than 3,400 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at three hospitals: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia, as well as Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health, a freestanding 53-bed behavioral health facility, also in Rome; and a primary care and urgent care network with locations throughout the service area of northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama.