Collaboration creates final moment of peace for patient

When a UCHealth Highlands Ranch hospital oncology patient’s condition began to decline rapidly, the care team wasn’t sure how much time she had left.

What her primary nurse, Chelsey Voglewede, did know was that she loved being outside.

“In medical oncology, we spend a lot of time with our patients,” Voglewede said.

“I always try to understand who they are outside of the hospital and beyond their diagnosis. Since I learned that she lived an adventurous life, it was important to me that we found a way for her to be outside and get some fresh air.”

Voglewede was determined to find a way to take her outside one last time.

She reached out to the hospital’s palliative care team, which immediately stepped in to help coordinate what became a multi-department effort.

It was determined that the only way to safely take her outdoors was a trip to the hospital’s rooftop helipad.

“Lots of people were involved — her friends, her provider Dr. Jacob Keeling, the house supervisor, UCHealth security officers, the chaplain, her palliative care team,” Voglewede said.

What followed felt, in Voglewede’s words, “like it was meant to be.”

Together, an entourage of caregivers and friends accompanied the patient to the rooftop.

Once they reached the helipad, they positioned her bed to face the sun over the foothills, wrapping her in extra sheets and blankets to keep her warm.

For about half an hour, the patient lay in the sunlight, smiling, holding her friends’ hands as they admired the beautiful Colorado landscape that stretched out in front of them.

One friend who couldn’t be at the hospital wrote the patient a personalized poem. As they all looked out at the horizon, one of the friends holding the patient’s hand read it aloud.

“You could almost feel the love they had for one another,” Voglewede said.

“It made me feel very grateful that we could provide them with this opportunity at the end. It was very emotional and special.”

When the team safely returned the patient to her room, Voglewede noticed a profound shift.

“She had a calm, relaxed demeanor about her. She seemed at peace knowing she had this special moment with her loved ones.”

The patient died just a few hours later.

For Voglewede, the moment remains deeply meaningful.

“It was the first time I had done something like this for a patient,” she said. “It took a lot of coordinating with other teams and departments to make it happen, but I’m grateful for our collaboration so that we could all be part of this incredible moment.”