A new volunteer program at the Gregory Wing at St. Andrews Village is designed to ensure that nobody dies alone.

The Compassionate Companion Program serves people who are “actively dying,” according to their physician. If the patient and their family choose to participate, trained volunteers spend time at the bedside when loved ones and family members cannot be present.

The program trained its first four volunteers for the Gregory Wing at St. Andrews Village on Nov. 17, according to Connie Bright, Director of Volunteers at Lincoln County Healthcare.

Tracy Verney, leader of the program, said volunteers serve both the patient and the family and also serve as the eyes and ears of the nursing staff, reporting any changes they see in breathing or signs the patient may be in discomfort.

In some cases, where a patient does not have family or loved ones nearby, volunteers may spend 24 hours a day with the dying person, dividing the day into shifts, Verney said.

“We guide the loved one through that whole process. We don’t leave until the funeral home comes and picks up that loved one,” Verney said.

Volunteers then continue to support the family in the days following the death.

There are 16 trained compassionate companions on the Miles Campus of LincolnHealth, where the program has been very successful.

Soon after the training was completed, Verney was notified of a patient that was actively dying in the Gregory Wing. The newly trained compassionate companions will be working with that person.

To become a compassionate companion, a volunteer must first either complete a Maine State Hospice Certification Program or Complete the Lincoln County Healthcare Lay Pastoral Visitors Training. They then must complete a one-day training focused specifically on the Compassionate Companion Program.

For more information about volunteering at either the Miles or St. Andrews Campus of LincolnHealth, call Connie Bright at 207-563-4508.