In 2009, the annual Ride to Remember set out to commemorate the patients cared for by the staff of the Eskenazi Health Palliative Care Program. Through this bicycle ride, the members of the Palliative Care Program remember and celebrate the lives of the patients seen in the past year while raising awareness and support for palliative care.
In 1999, Eskenazi Health, at the time Wishard Health Services, established a Palliative Care Program to provide comprehensive and compasionate care to every patient and family faced with life limiting conditions. In 2009, to celebrate the programs 10th Anniversary and to memorialize more than 3000 cared for during that time period, the Palliative Care Program Director, Dr. Greg Gramelspacher, rode his bicycle 3,280-miles across the United States- from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. Each mile of the ride was dedicated to a patient.
Since 2011, the annual Ride to Remember has occurred in conjunction with the Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) sponsored by the Bloomington Bicycling Club. This is a one-day, one-way 160-mile bicycle ride from Terre Haute, Indiana to Richmond, Indiana with more than 1,000 riders. Despite this sea of cyclists, the Ride to Remember team members are identifiable by their Eskenazi Health blue, green, and white jerseys. Less noticeable is the laminated card each rider carries with them listing the patients cared for in the last year.
Every person, regardless of financial and personal circumstances, deserves to spend his or her final days free of pain and distressing symptoms supported by a loving team of caregivers who are committed to non-abandonment.
Palliative care is not about death and dying, but rather about life and living, helping each person enjoy the fullness of life until the last breathe is gone.
What would you want out of your healthcare team if you were faced with a serious illness? I would want doctors, nurses, and others who I can trust to provide the highest quality of care that takes into account my personal values and concerns. At Eskenazi Health, I trust my primary care and subspecialty colleagues […]
Frequently people ask me why I chose to focus on palliative medicine for a career choice. I guess it can seem odd that someone would choose to spend much of their time with patients and families who are managing the physical and emotional challenges of either new or mounting medical problems that don’t often result […]
Eskenazi Health Ride to Remember 