Hanna Green knows Sacred Heart Medical Center from both sides of the caregiving journey. As a patient care coordinator with Providence Pediatrics Nephrology, she regularly works alongside caregivers dedicated to healing others. Recently, however, Hanna found herself in a different role: a granddaughter walking beside a loved one at the end of life. As her grandmother, Terry Jo Sather, affectionally known by loved ones as “TJ,” experienced a steady decline after years of complex health challenges, Hanna and her family were faced with the difficult reality that treatment options had run out and comfort would become the focus of care.
“My grandmother was a big part of my life growing up,” Hanna said. “She had a servant’s heart and was very active in the community and in the church.”
Like many families navigating serious illness, they searched for every possible path forward. But TJ’s condition worsened rapidly. As her health declined, Hanna stepped into a new role: advocate.
“It must be something big if God is going to call her home,” Hanna said. “I served as her advocate to talk for her when she couldn’t.”
Eventually, it was time for comfort care, care provided during the final chapter of life. It was during those difficult days that Hanna met Josie Engeland, a respiratory therapist whose compassion left a lasting impression.
As a respiratory therapist, Josie’s role is to help patients breathe when they cannot do so on their own. But for Hanna’s family, her care extended far beyond clinical responsibilities.
“I think she knew that my grandmother wasn’t going to make it through this,” Hanna said. “Josie would follow up and as a family who was going through this, we felt that spoke volumes about who she is as a person.”
After TJ was moved to a hospice room, Josie noticed a family that had been sitting vigil for hours.
“She brought in a cart of fruit, coffee and muffins because our family had been there for several hours at this point,” Hanna recalled. “She was so compassionate and in tune with what we were experiencing.”
The small gestures became meaningful reminders that the family was not alone.
One day, when Hanna found herself sitting by her grandmother’s bedside without other family members present, she reached out to Josie.
“I had requested Josie to come in and sit with me because I was alone,” Hanna said. “And she just sat and talked with me. She’s a respiratory therapist and I’m sure has so much to do, but she goes out of her way to comfort people.”
The family was supported by many caregivers during TJ’s final days. Chaplains offered prayers. A thanatologist came in on her day off to play the harp. Through it all, Josie continued to check in.
For Hanna, these moments embodied Providence’s commitment to caring for the whole person.
“I feel like there was peace in my grandmother’s passing,” she said.
Shortly after TJ’s death, Hanna knew she wanted to recognize the caregiver who had walked alongside her family through one of life’s most sacred moments.
“I submitted the Values in Action nomination for Josie a week later,” Hanna said. “I didn’t want to forget.”
In her nomination, Hanna wrote:
"While my grandmother was very ill and our family had to make the difficult decision to move her onto comfort care, Josie was the calm in the storm. She checked in with us frequently and made sure not only my grandmother was comfortable, but we were also. She did this by bringing refreshments to our hospice room as well as taking the time to pray with family members and my grandmother. I am aware her job is not easy. Josie went above and beyond her role to help our family in a time of need. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Josie."
In October, Hanna and Josie were able to reconnect. Hanna brought her nine-month-old daughter, Hallie Jo, named after her grandmother, to express her gratitude to Josie during that time. There were hugs, tears, and laughs.
For Josie, the recognition was humbling, but the true reward was being present during a family's most vulnerable time.
“This is what God brought me to do,” Josie said. “This is my purpose. I was honored to be nominated, but more so to be part of Hanna’s experience.”
Her approach to caregiving is simple: treat every patient and family as if they were her own.
“If I could have sat in there all day with her, I would have,” Josie said. “I would have wanted someone to do that for my grandma.”
As Providence celebrates Respect Life Month, Hanna and Josie’s story reminds us that caring for life includes caring for people in its final chapter. Sometimes the most profound healing doesn't come through treatment or technology. It comes through presence, compassion and the willingness to sit beside someone when they need it most.
In those sacred moments, caregivers like Josie exemplify what it means to serve with love, bringing comfort, dignity and peace to patients and families alike.
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