Inspire Magazine Fall 2019 | Page 17

Handmade Comfort Touches At Pali Momi Medical Center, sometimes comfort comes in the form of a blanket. Sewing club for Blankets from the Heart program at Pali Momi Medical Center. FOR PATIENTS FACING SERIOUS OR EVEN TERMINAL MEDICAL CONDITIONS, soft and colorful handmade blankets are a gift to help ease their worries and make them feel more at home. And it all comes from the hearts and hands of volunteers. out as an individual project with a quilt I donated, but I began to wonder how I could expand this project by engaging the HPH community,” Dr. Gallagher said. “It also gave me the chance to teach and share my quilting passion for a good cause.” Crafter Jeanette Kaneshiro came up with the idea that turned into Pali Momi's Blankets from the Heart program. The Palliative Care team offers it as an extension of care for patients and their families. One of her ideas was to create a sewing club. Volunteers and staff members from across the Hawai‘i Pacific Health system meet quarterly to design, cut, piece, quilt and bind the blankets. Emergency physician Dr. Lily Gallagher is a quilter herself. She took leadership of the program in 2018 after she made a quilt for the Pali Momi Art Exhibit. “It started “No two blankets are the same and family members go home with a handmade quilt that provided warmth and comfort to their loved ones,” Dr. Gallagher said. “The Jamie Sharpe (left), palliative care nurse practitioner at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children and Jody Barnhart (right), mother of Dr. Kersten Milligan, emergency physician at Pali Momi Medical Center. volunteers have expressed how good it feels to make something so personal and unique from beginning to end.” Recently, the program expanded to include handmade chemo port seatbelt pillows that are given to patients at the cancer center. These special pillows attach to a seatbelt to help protect the small port beneath the skin where patients get their chemotherapy. Every project is funded by community contributions and offers a bit of love and care for those who need it most. 17