Penn Highlands Healthcare at Home Presents First Caregiver of the Year Award
On Valentine's Day, most people think about hearts and love. On February 14, 2025, the Penn Highlands Healthcare at Home office in St. Marys was filled with hearts and love when Cindy DeNoon, RN, who is a hospice nurse, received the inaugural Lisa Isadore Hospice Caregiver of the Year Award.
The award celebrates the life of Lisa Isadore who only received hospice care for two and one half days before her passing. Cindy was called by the Isadore family with questions, and immediately drove to their home and remained there for six hours to provide support to each of them. She made a lasting impression on Lisa's loved ones in the time they were all together.
"Hospice care is a special calling," said Cheryl Mitchell, Director of Penn Highlands Healthcare at Home. "We have a truly outstanding team of healthcare and social service providers who work together to offer medical, emotional and spiritual support.”
Penn Highlands Healthcare at Home established the award with Lisa Isadore’s husband, Mike, to honor outstanding care providers while celebrating the life of his wife. He suggested that the award be presented on Valentine's Day because it was Lisa's birthday. He was also instrumental in the design of the award which is a locally produced glass heart.
In presenting the award to Cindy, Sher Sheets, Hospice Spiritual Counselor at Penn Highlands Healthcare at Home, said, "The work of direct care hospice is truly sacred -- and at times we witness moments so holy we can only tuck them away in the folds of our hearts. We meet people in their final months, days, hours -- gathering whatever highlights we can of a life so unique and complicated and fantastically individual we can only scratch the surface of knowing them."
Cindy has been a hospice nurse for more than 17 years. She works tirelessly to advocate for her patients. Her colleagues describe her as being "compassionate with a non-judgmental presence."
Penn Highlands Healthcare at Home offers loving, compassionate and committed hospice and palliative care to patients and their loved ones. A team of professionally trained healthcare professionals provides hospice and palliative care to help ease challenges and improve the quality of life for patients, families and caregivers, in addition to managing patients’ physical and emotional symptoms and providing ongoing support to family and caregivers. To learn more, call 1-800-841-9397 or visit www.phhealthcare.org/healthcareathome.
