PARKER, Colo. — For Katherine Wiley, holding a stranger’s hand in their final moments is not just an act of kindness, it’s a calling. As a volunteer at AdventHealth Parker, Wiley ensures that no patient spends their last hours alone.
Wiley coordinates the hospital’s No One Dies Alone (NODA) program, a national initiative that provides companionship for dying patients who may not have family or friends nearby.
“I’ve always had a passion for helping people in death and dying,” Wiley said. “I don’t honestly know why I’ve had this calling, but it clearly is a calling and speaks very deeply to me.”
Wiley’s inspiration for the program came from an encounter while volunteering in the emergency department. She sat with an elderly woman in her 90s who was alone in her final moments.
“She had two adult sons who were trying to get here from Colorado Springs. They were desperately trying to get here before she passed,” Wiley recalled. “When they arrived, I was able to tell them that their mom had not been alone when she died, and they were so incredibly grateful.”
That moment stuck with Wiley and drove her to establish the NODA program at AdventHealth Parker. Since its launch in September, volunteers have provided vigils for multiple patients, ensuring that no one faces death in solitude.
Tricia Higgins, director of nursing at AdventHealth Parker, emphasized the program's impact.
“It’s taking care of the whole person, not just their physical ailment, but their emotional and spiritual well-being too,”Higgins said.
The program is already expanding beyond Parker. Wiley and her team recently helped roll out the initiative to other AdventHealth hospitals across the Denver metro area.
“Other hospitals heard about this, and immediately they said, ‘We’d like this program too,’” Wiley said. “Now, all of our area hospitals will soon have this up and running.”
Chief Medical Officer Devin Bateman called Wiley a hero at AdventHealth Parker and the community.
“She provides compassionate, loving care. Patients feel that. They know it," Bateman said.
As the NODA program continues to grow, Wiley hopes more people will be inspired to volunteer.
“Any time we can spend with a patient in their last hours is really a blessing,” she said. “It’s not a sad or scary moment. It’s just a powerful moment of peace and grace.”
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