Pathways purchased a 25,000-square-foot building this year at 585 N. Mary Ave in Sunnyvale. After remodeling the interior, the agency relocated from Mountain View on March 7.

Barbara Burgess, chief executive officer at Pathways, says the Sunnyvale office provides a central location for the agency, which serves communities in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

"Geographically, our nurses can get out to patients easily," she says.

The new building also has room for offices and services such as bereavement counseling, family meetings and volunteer training.

"For the first time in 28 years, we were able to create the look inside that we wanted," Burgess says. "It was difficult to bring families into our old offices because we didn't have the space."

Last year, Pathways served 114 families in Cupertino; seven of the agency's volunteers are Cupertino residents. Local schools, including Homestead High School, also provide volunteers.

Cupertino resident Robert Harrington used Pathways' hospice services for 10 days for his wife, Terrie, who died of esophageal cancer on June 26. Although she was heavily medicated and could barely speak, Harrington says the hospice helped fulfill Terrie's wish to die in her own home.

"It was important for her to spend her last days at home with her family and looking out the windows," Harrington says. "She was happier at home than in the hospital environment, which can feel like a factory."

Pathways staff assisted Harrington with his wife's medication and turned her every four hours.

"They explained everything and took the time to answer our questions," Harrington says. "Even if we had questions in the wee hours of the morning, they were good about getting back to us."

Burgess says allowing patients such as Terrie Harrington to remain at home is Pathway's primary goal.

"It's therapeutic to be in one's own surroundings. People want to look out the window and be surrounded by familiar things," Burgess says. "There's no overhead system blaring 24 hours a day like in a hospital. People want to avoid that institutional feel."

While tending to the patients' physical needs, Pathways also seeks to nurture the emotions of both patients and their family members. Clients receive visits from a social worker and, if they wish, a spiritual care counselor.

"Physical care goes along with emotional and spiritual care," Burgess says. "That's our philosophy."

Burgess says that many insurance companies, including Medicare, offer coverage for hospice services. Pathways also raises money for families without insurance.

In addition to hospice services, Pathways offers home health care to help people acclimate to life at home after an illness or accident.

"There is a real value to learning how to navigate in the environment in which a patient needs to function," Burgess says.

After their loved one dies, family members are eligible for Pathways' bereavement counseling and workshops, and the organization stays in contact with them for 13 months. These services are also available to anyone in the community.

"Grief changes over time," says Pathways' bereavement coordinator and Sunnyvale resident Chris Taich. "We want them to know we are here for them, and we understand their grief is not over."

Pathways is located at 585 N. Mary Ave. For more information, visit www.Pathwayshealth.org or call 408.730.5900.