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Honored and privileged to serve more than 60 Ohio counties.

Ohio's Hospice at United Church Homes

Serving: Stark and Washington Counties

Administrative Office

Chapel Hill
12200 Strausser St. NW
Canal Fulton, OH 44614
Phone: 330.264.4899

Administrative Office

200 Timberline Dr. #1212
Marietta, OH 45750
Phone: 740.629.9990

Ohio's Hospice | Cincinnati

Administrative Office

11013 Montgomery Rd.
Cincinnati, OH 45249
1.800.653.4490

Ohio's Hospice | Dayton

Serving: Logan, Champaign, Clark, Preble, Montgomery, Greene, Butler, Warren and Hamilton Counties

Inpatient Care Center

324 Wilmington Ave.
Dayton, OH 45420
Phone: 937.256.4490
1.800.653.4490

Administrative Office

7575 Paragon Rd.
Dayton, OH 45459
Phone: 937.256.4490
1.800.653.4490

Ohio's Hospice | Franklin/Middletown

Serving: Butler and Warren Counties

Inpatient Care Center

5940 Long Meadow Dr.
Franklin, OH 45005
Phone: 513.422.0300

Ohio's Hospice | Marysville

Serving: Union and Madison Counties

Administrative Office

779 London Ave.
Marysville, OH 43040
Phone: 937.644.1928

Ohio's Hospice | Middleburg Heights

Administrative Office

18051 Jefferson Park Rd.
Middleburg Heights, OH 44130
1.833.444.4177

Ohio's Hospice | Mt. Gilead

Serving: Morrow County

Administrative Office

228 South St.
Mt. Gilead, OH 43338
Phone: 419.946.9822

Ohio's Hospice | Newark

Serving: Crawford, Marion, Morrow, Knox, Coshocton, Delaware, Licking, Muskingum, Franklin, Fairfield, Perry and Hocking Counties

Administrative Office

2269 Cherry Valley Rd.
Newark, OH 43055
Phone: 740.788.1400

Inpatient Care Center at Licking Memorial Hospital

1320 West Main St.
Newark, OH 43055
Phone: 740.344.0379

Ohio's Hospice | Columbus

Ohio's Hospice at
The Ohio State University
Wexner Medical Center

410 W 10th Ave - 7th Floor
Columbus, OH 43210
Phone: 614.685.0001

Ohio's Hospice | New Philadelphia

Serving: Tuscarawas, Stark, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Holmes Counties

Inpatient Care Center

716 Commercial Ave. SW
New Philadelphia, OH 44663
Phone: 330.343.7605

Ohio's Hospice | Springfield

Serving: Clark, Champaign and Logan Counties

Administrative Office

1830 N. Limestone St.
Springfield, OH 45503
Phone: 937.390.9665

Ohio's Hospice | Troy

Serving: Allen, Auglaize, Darke, Mercer, Miami, Shelby, and Van Wert Counties

Inpatient Care Center

3230 N. Co. Rd. 25A
Troy, OH 45373
Phone: 937.335.5191

Ohio's Hospice | Washington Court House

Serving: Fayette, Clinton, Pickaway, Ross, Highland, Pike, Clermont, Brown and Adams Counties

Administrative Office

222 N. Oakland Ave.
Washington Court House, OH 43160
Phone: 740.335.0149

Ohio's Hospice | Wilmington

Serving: Clinton County

Administrative Office

1669 Rombach Ave.
Wilmington, OH 45177
Phone: 937.382.5400
Fax: 937.383.3898

Ohio's Hospice | Wooster

Serving: Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Lorain, Medina, Summit, Richland, Ashland, Wayne, Stark, Holmes and Tuscarawas Counties

Inpatient Care Center

1900 Akron Rd.
Wooster, OH 44691
Phone: 330.264.4899

Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare Care Team Finds Patient’s Namesake

When Keri Shuman, RN care manager at Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, and Mark Schmidt, medical social worker at Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, walked in the Downs’ home for the first time, they expected a routine initial patient visit. After two and a half hours of talking with Floyd Downs, Ph.D., and his wife, Joanne, they learned that Dr. Downs had been a herpetologist and was one of the world’s foremost experts on Costa Rican ground snakes. 

For 35 years, Dr. Downs taught in the biology department at The College of Wooster, served as chair of the department and took students into the field to experience the diversity of life. While his research in Ohio focused on mole salamanders found in the northwestern part of the state, Dr. Downs contributed much of his research career to the snakes of Costa Rica. 

Dr. Downs published a major study of the relationships among a large group of secretive snakes from Central America. When a previously unidentified species was discovered in southern Costa Rica, the discovers named the snake Geophis downsi in recognition of the work Dr. Downs had contributed. 

Dr. Downs mentioned to Keri and Mark that he had a snake named after him, but that he had never seen a picture of his namesake. Keri did a Google search for Geophis downsi to find a picture of the snake. He was excited to see a picture of the snake named after him and told Joanne it was his immortality on Earth because the name would always be in herpetology literature. 

At the next care team meeting, Keri and Mark shared the story of Dr. Downs and showed the picture to the care team. The team discussed ways to share the photo with the Downs family and commemorate Dr. Downs’ achievements throughout his career. The team reached out to volunteer coordinators, Beki McCurdy and Elisa Stoyle, who worked to have a plaque made in honor of Dr. Downs and the snake. 

The plaque was presented to Joanne in memory of her late husband and she quickly chose a place to hang it—right above a picture of her husband—as a memorial of his contributions to the natural world. 

“I was blown away when the plaque was brought to me and can’t wait to show our family,” Joanne said. “That was an amazing thing for Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare to do for us. The care that hospice provided in our own home was excellent, but this was certainly very special.” 

Author Profile

Craig Schrolucke
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