Bereavement
Program
The Lifting Hearts program at Pomerene Hospital is modeled after Resolve Through Sharing (RTS), the bereavement program developed at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, more than 30 years ago.
Our program addresses individual needs of families who have experienced an early loss, stillbirth or newborn death. It promotes an interdisciplinary approach in caring for grieving families from the moment they experience a loss through the period of grieving.
Bereavement Program
Our Philosophy
Families who experience the loss of a baby during pregnancy or shortly after birth grieve for their baby and the loss of an entire lifetime with that child. Our caring, supportive team can help families move through the initial crisis toward re-establishing their lives.
Our Services
Our trained bereavement counselor works with each family during hospitalization to:
The counselor is an emotional support, responsible for giving the grief packet of information, the comfort basket, provided by Forget-Me-Not Baskets, Inc., and providing mementos such as photographs, footprints and impressions and other keepsakes when possible.
After discharge, the bereavement coordinator is in contact with the family for up to one year after the loss, or for as long as the family and counselor deem necessary. This contact is maintained through phone calls, letters and home visits.
Our Bereavement Counselor
Toni Mishler, RNC-MNN, IBCLC, GC-C
Toni Mishler has been a Pomerene employee since 2006 and an RN for the Obstetrics unit since 2007. In 2009, Toni became Pomerene's first bereavement coordinator, earning certification as perinatal loss bereavement coordinator. That same year, she began building Pomerene's Lifting Hearts bereavement program, including parent support group meetings, family activities and coordination of donors and donations to enhance patient care.
In 2011, Toni earned her GC-C (certified grief counselor) to enhance bereavement care reaching the entire family, including children.
Outreach & Support
There is nothing quite like talking with someone who has “walked in your shoes.” Parents who have suffered perinatal loss often feel isolated. Our team has responded by offering a support group called, Lifting Heats Support Group.
Pomerene Lifting Heart Support Group:
Meets Monthly
Meets the third Tuesday of each month from 7-9pm at the Amish House, located just south of the Pomerene campus
Free to Public
It is FREE and open to the public with special invitation to our patient
Annual Activities
Participates in several activities throughout the year including:
- Baby Walk Memorial Walk-A-Thon fundraiser held annually in October
- Annual Memorial Service and Butterfly Release held at Pomerene’s Memory Garden in June
- Lifting Hearts Christmas Tree Memorial Ceremony at Pomerene
- Participation in the maintenance of the Memory Garden on the Pomerene campus
- Outreach to future bereaved families through adding to the supplies used in our program such as hand-crafted blankets and gowns, small wooden coffins and more. These items are donated to families in memory and are FREE of charge
Give a Gift
If you are wishing to make a donation to the Lifting Heart Bereavement Program, you may do so by contacting our Bereavement Coordinator, Toni Mishler.
Visitor & Patients
Online Services
Main Campus
981 Wooster Road
Millersburg, Ohio 44654
(330) 674-1015
