GREENE – Hospice of Chenango County is a health care agency that takes care of individuals at the end of their life. Hospice patients can reside anywhere in Chenango County and can see a doctor outside of the county. That is common in Greene whose residents often choose to see health care providers in the Binghamton area.

One component of Hospice Care is support for family and friends after the death of a loved one. Hospice follows the family for at least 13 months following the loss with phone calls, newsletters, and personal visits. Hospice’s Bereavement Coordinator Brenda Birdsall also frequently conducts peer support groups in towns throughout the county.

This fall she will start a bereavement support group in Greene to accommodate residents in the southern part of Chenango County.

The group is open to anyone in grief; there is no requirement that a person used Hospice services for a loved one, and the loss need not be a recent one. Birdsall says that individuals often put off grieving for a wide variety of personal reasons, and then find themselves confused when years pass and they haven’t moved on. “We’ve had people come to our support groups whose loss is decades old. It’s never too late to advance one’s emotional healing,” assures Birdsall.