Peoria Standard

Fighting back tears, Sara Mattillion described her late mother, Mercedes Woodworth, who died in October 2025 after a long battle with cancer. Mattillion, a registered dietitian at OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, Illinois, recalled her mother as "a firecracker" who was "definitely very spunky and quirky, full of life, love and energy for everyone."

Woodworth spent a year in OSF Hospice before passing away on October 17. She had been living alone in Burbank, Illinois after the sudden death of her husband Gary earlier that year. Mattillion and her brother Andrew made frequent trips to care for their mother but found crucial support from the hospice team at OSF HealthCare Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Evergreen Park.

"It was one of the most awful things I've experienced in my lifetime," Mattillion said. "But we felt supported by hospice. Everybody that surrounded my mom was also surrounding my brother and I. Taking care of somebody who's dying, and you know they're dying, is hard. It's emotionally taxing, mentally and physically."

Barb Johnson, an OSF Hospice manager, explained the approach taken by the hospice team: "We’re there throughout the entire time. I always say that we walk beside the family and the patient, we don't go in and take over. We provide a lot of education, not only on what the disease is, but how that family member is going to take care of their loved one."

The care team includes a physician, nurse, social worker, chaplain and volunteers who focus on both clinical needs and emotional support for patients and families. Volunteers may sit with patients or help with errands around the home.

"Hospice is a program that focuses on the entire being of the patient, meaning physical, emotional, environment as well as their family," Johnson said. "We provide as much attention to the family as we do the patient. Because the family is the one that is really taking care of the patient... For many of our families this is a brand-new area that they're encountering."

Mattillion expressed gratitude for both clinical and emotional support provided by hospice staff during her mother's final days: “She said that she didn’t know what she did to deserve so many angels around her,” Mattillion shared about her mother's experience.

A month before Woodworth's death, she fulfilled a lifelong wish through AARP’s Wish of a Lifetime program by visiting the Grand Canyon with her children.

“My mom said that it gave her a sense of peace and a renewal of energy that she needed to keep going for the time that she did,” Mattillion said.

While hospice cannot change outcomes for terminally ill patients, Johnson emphasized its role: “It takes an emotional and physical toll on people to care for someone,” she said. “What we always tell family members is most important is that they take care of themselves first. Because if they don't take care of themselves they're not going to be able to take care of their loved one.”

November marks National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. More information about hospice services can be found on the OSF HealthCare website.