“A fulfilling life includes a dignified death – and that’s possible with us,” says Cornelia Baumann. She runs the Sankt Barbara Hospice in Linz, where ten people find their last home who have an illness for which there is no cure or therapy. The rooms are bright and friendly. It’s unusually quiet. Not a trace of hectic, not a loud word.
“That’s not always the case. We also have parties here,” says 36-year-old Cornelia Baumann, and talks about the residents who like to sit on the large roof terrace, chat with each other, receive relatives here, cook, and go shopping in the nearby city center or stop off in one of the surrounding coffee houses.
Some activities are also posted on Facebook or Instagram. “To break a taboo and show: We are not a mortuary. We die, but we also live a lot. And we have fun.”
“You don’t have to do anything anymore, you can do everything.” That’s the sentence she says to everyone who moves in here. If you want, you can be there every Monday when the therapy dog Beetle comes, or take part in cozy coffee groups. “There are people who have been living here for several months – others die after a few days. You can’t predict that,” says the trained nurse.
Many would come alive again if they moved here because they were no longer a challenge to their families. “Some had a very bad prognosis and are still experiencing many really good weeks and maybe even months here.” The residents – from 32 to 85 years old – can take what they need to feel good with them to the hospice: from a comfortable TV chair to their favorite coffee mug.
suffer no pain
“A hospice is a place where you can live well,” says the hospice director. The residents are cared for by a multi-professional team – nurses, social workers, doctors, pastors, physiotherapists and psychotherapists. Some of the experts come from the nearby Elisabethinen Order Hospital. No one needs to suffer the pain that many fear. Of course, the last phase of life is often characterized by reflection on one’s own life. Times of rest and reflection would alternate with touching moments of meeting, looking back, and saying goodbye. “It is a blessing that you exist.” Cornelia Baumann often hears this sentence.
This first and only hospice in Linz has only existed since 2016, and at the new location since 2021. There has also been a Sankt Barbara hospice in Ried im Innkreis since the beginning of 2022, with space for six seriously ill people.
Saint Barbara Hospice
The supporting organizations of the Sankt Barbara hospices in Linz and Ried are – on behalf of the state of Upper Austria – the Barmherzige Brüder Linz, the Vinzenz Group, the OÖ. Red Cross and the Elisabethinen Linz-Vienna.
The declared goal of this facility is the best possible holistic support and care for residents and their families.
Source: Nachrichten
