On Saturday, July 16, the Eskenazi Health Cycling team will ride across Indiana in a one-day journey to remember nearly 400 Palliative Care patients who died last year. The team’s goal is to remember patients cared for by the Eskenazi Health Palliative Care Program and to raise awareness about compassionate care for seriously ill patients.

This will be the seventh annual Ride to Remember that began in 2009 with a cross-country trek in memory of the more than 3,200 patients cared for by the Eskenazi Health Palliative Care team in the first 10 years of the program. The Ride to Remember also raises funds to expand our outreach to seriously ill patients and their families throughout Marion County for Eskenazi Health’s No One Dies Alone (NODA) bereavement program.

This year’s team of 13 Eskenazi Health riders will join over 1,000 other cyclists who are participating in the annual Ride Across Indiana (RAIN) sponsored by the Bloomington Bicycle Club. The ride starts at Saint Mary’s College in Terre Haute and ends 160 miles later at Earlham College in Richmond. Most of the ride is along historic U.S. 40. You can find more information about RAIN at http://www.rainride.org.

Again this year, the Ride to Remember is being supported by generous sponsorship from the Glick Family Fund at the Central Indiana Community Foundation, the Glasscock Family Foundation and area hospices. In addition, each team member helps raise funds. Each cyclist will carry a card with them that includes the names of the Eskenazi Health Palliative Care patients who are being honored during this year’s ride.

Dr. Greg Gramelspacher, an avid cyclist, established the Palliative Care Program in 1999. The program’s interdisciplinary team and specially trained staff helps coordinate complex medical care for patients and their families as they face the challenges associated with their serious illness.

We ride in memory of our patients and in honor of their friends and family to promote compassionate and high-quality care for seriously ill patients,” said Dr. Gramelspacher. “Our work, and this ride, is a labor of love. We want the friends and family of our patients to know that we haven’t forgotten them.

All are welcome to donate to the cause or cheer on the Eskenazi Health team along the route. To donate or for more information, please call Eskenazi Health Palliative Care at 317.880.8251 or visit their blog https://ehsride2remember.wordpress.com/. You can also email the team at ehsride2remember@gmail.com.

CONTACT: Tom Surber
Phone: 317.880.4793
Pager: 317.310.6589 
E-mail: thomas.surber@eskenazihealth.edu