One-day cycling event across Indiana planned for July 15

Indianapolis, July 12, 2017 – On Saturday, July 15, the Eskenazi Health Cycling Team will participate in a one-day bicycle ride across Indiana during the eighth annual Ride to Remember. The team will complete the 160-mile trek in fond memory of the 353 Eskenazi Health Palliative Care Program patients who died last year.

Ride to Remember raises awareness about compassionate care for seriously ill patients and their families. Riders also raise funds to expand outreach throughout Marion County for Eskenazi Health’s No One Dies Alone (NODA) program, outpatient follow-up and bereavement support.

Ride to Remember began in 2009 with a cross-country bicycle ride in memory of more than 3,200 patients cared for by the Eskenazi Health Palliative Care team in the first 10 years of the program. As of 2017, the program has cared for an estimated 6,000 patients. 

Dr. Greg Gramelspacher, an avid cyclist, established the Palliative Care Program at Eskenazi Health in 1999. The program’s interdisciplinary team helps coordinate complex medical care for patients and their families as they face the challenges associated with their serious illness. The specially-trained staff offers an extra layer of support, not only during a patient’s hospitalizations but also after they return home.

“160 miles on a bicycle in one day isn’t much fun,” said Dr. Gramelspacher, “but we do it so that the friends and family of our patients know that we have not forgotten their loved ones. Eskenazi’s Palliative Care Program provides compassionate care for seriously ill patients.  The long bicycle ride across Indiana in the middle of July is a suffer-fest, but our work is a labor of love.”

Since 2011, the annual Ride to Remember has occurred in conjunction with the Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) sponsored by the Bloomington Bicycling Club. The one-day, one-way 160-mile bicycle ride begins in Terre Haute, Ind., and ends in Richmond, Ind. Over 1,000 riders participate in the journey along the historic U.S. 40. Each cyclist carries with them a card with the names of the patients cared for by the Palliative Care Program in the past year.

Ride to Remember is supported by generous sponsorship from the Glick Family Fund at the Central Indiana Community Foundation, the Glasscock Family Foundation and numerous caring individuals.

All are welcome to donate to the cause through www.eskenazihealthfoundation.org and to cheer on the Eskenazi Health Cycling Team along the route. For more information, please call Eskenazi Health Palliative Care at 317.880.8251, email the team at ehsride2remember@gmail.com or visit the blog at https://ehsride2remember.wordpress.com/

For nearly 160 years, Eskenazi Health has provided high-quality, cost-effective, patient-centered health care to the residents of Marion County and Central Indiana. Accredited by The Joint Commission, nationally recognized programs include a Level I trauma center, regional burn center, comprehensive senior care program, women’s and children’s services, teen and adolescent care programs, Eskenazi Health Midtown Community Mental Health, and a network of primary care sites located throughout the neighborhoods of Indianapolis known as Eskenazi Health Center. In partnership with the Regenstrief Institute, Eskenazi Health conducts groundbreaking work that informs health information technology around the globe. Eskenazi Health also serves as the sponsoring hospital for Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services. As the public hospital division of the Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County (HHC), Eskenazi Health partners with the Indiana University School of Medicine whose physicians provide a comprehensive range of primary and specialty care services. In December 2013, Eskenazi Health moved to its new main campus and opened the brand new Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital. The new modern and efficient facility is Central Indiana’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Gold health care campus and offers unique features like a one-of-a-kind sky farm and extensive art collection. The Eskenazi Health Foundation was the recipient of $40 million gift from Indianapolis couple Sidney and Lois Eskenazi to assist with building the brand new hospital facilities. HHC recognized this generous gift by naming the new hospital and health system in the Eskenazis’ honor. 

CONTACT: Tom Surber/Alex Gilland
Phone: 317.880.4793
Cell: 317.402.9327
Pager: 317.310.5972
Email: thomas.surber@eskenazihealth.edu