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Hospice Eases Inmates' Deaths

By William Petroski
Des Moines Register Staff Writer

Fort Madison, IA. - When Herbie Schnee gasped his last breath March 5, he departed the Iowa State Penitentiary the only way society would permit him to leave.

Schnee, 64, a Dubuque native serving life behind bars for first-degree murder, died of cancer of the larynx. His passing had special significance here because he was the first inmate admitted to the newly established hospice program at the state's toughest prison. He spent the final days of his life in the care of fellow prisoners who treated him like a family member.

"Before then, there were a lot of guys just dying by themselves. This is what the hospice program is all about," said inmate Mike Glover, who is serving a life term for first-degree murder from Clinton County.

Glover is among 15 inmate volunteers at the Fort Madison prison hospice program. They have worked together with prison officials to develop a small, two-bed hospice unit in the prison's infirmary. Their training was provided by prison medical staffers, a prison chaplain and the Lee County Health Department.

The need for hospice care will grow in the coming years in Iowa's prison system, said Marilyn Sales, director of nursing for the Iowa Department of Corrections.

Inmates age 51 and older now represent 7 percent of the state's inmate population of 8,600 prisoners, up from 3 percent in the early 1980s. Iowa now has 608 inmates serving life sentences, a group that is increasing in numbers annually. Most lifers likely will die in prison, Sales said.

Similar hospice programs have been established at state prisons in Mitchellville and at Oakdale, just north of Iowa City.

The Fort Madison hospice facility has been painted in warm colors, and mechanical beds, quilts and other items have been donated to provide comfort in death for prisoners.

Herbert J. "Herbie" Schnee entered prison in 1984 for the strangulation and beating death of Sharon A. Kieffer, 36, whose body was found by Dubuque police inside the back door of her apartment. Schnee had been a 1958 state wrestling champion at Dubuque Senior High School, but he had several previous scrapes with the law and a judge once described him as a "dangerous person while intoxicated."

After Schnee died in March, his fellow inmates washed his body, combed his hair, placed a sheet over him and lifted him onto a gurney for a trip to the funeral home. A small angel has since been painted on the wall of the pastel-colored hospice room in his memory. In addition, an Iowa Hawkeye football plaque made by a fellow inmate still hangs on the wall in honor of Schnee, who was an enthusiastic fan of the school's 2004 Big Ten co-championship team.

"I have been here for 23 years, and we wonder who is going to be caring for you when you are sick," said inmate Bertrum Burkett, 48, formerly of Des Moines, who is serving a life sentence for murder. "We understand this is important because we are brothers. They say that you are not family, but when you spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week with each other, you become more than family."

In the past when an inmate died at the state penitentiary, the death typically occurred with little notice, and prison activities continued as usual, Sales said. Now, there is a bereavement ceremony for hospice volunteers and a memorial service inside the institution for inmates and others, she added.

Throughout Iowa, there is a trend toward more use of hospice care with more than 90 hospice providers serving all 99 counties, said Scott McIntyre, a spokesman for the Iowa Hospice Organization in Des Moines. Most Iowa hospices provide services at home or at nursing facilities. There are fewer than 10 stand-alone hospices statewide, he said.

There have been no inmate deaths in Fort Madison's hospice program since Schnee died in March. But three inmates who are in declining health are in a pre-hospice program, and they will be evaluated for hospice care as needed, officials said.

There is no state financing set aside for the penitentiary's hospice program, but many people and organizations have generously donated money, furniture and other items, Sales said. A women's sewing circle in the Des Moines area plans to make lap robes for use by dying inmates, she said.

"We realize that we are going die here," Burkett said. "It is best to have it as comfortable as possible and to take care of each other. The one that lasts the longest will be the one who has to take care of everyone else."