Hospice proposal

Whitman Hospital Commissioners are you aware of the financial bequest that sits mostly indolent to county residents outside of Pullman but could duly fortify the in-house Hospice program approved at the request of St. John physician Dr. Peter Edminster?

Just how much money does Friends of Hospice hold in their largess? Let me share what I know from my brief time working for the organization and later this fall as I spoke to Malden friends and neighbors of past resident, Donald Steward.

Over 30 years ago, Steward and his wife retired to Malden, Wash. Sadly, both would die a few years apart from cancer, at home. Steward was grateful for the care provided to him by home health, Whitman Family Medicine and the kindness of Malden EMTs and neighbors.

Nobody was surprised that Don Steward left $300,000 to Friends of Hospice in 1999 to ensure others could die at home. His probate explicitly directs his bequest be used for “the purpose of care to and for the terminally ill who could remain in their homes such as himself.”

Steward’s $300,000 gift equals over $500,000 in 2024 dollars. Sadly, this money stays mainly in the two most densely populated pockets of Whitman County: Colfax and Pullman as shown in the Friends of Hospice summer newsletter. Don Steward’s vision to serve his 200 Malden neighbors is grossly neglected, as are Lamont, Tekoa, Rosalia, St. John, Endicott, Hooper and Lacrosse, some of the very towns Dr. Edminster referenced in the Dec. 26th article.

Becky Dickerson

St. John, Wash.