Where Presence Matters as Much as Care
Sara Roetken is not the kind of person who waits to be told what to do. She is direct, clear-eyed, and, by her own admission, the sort of woman who, when her husband was struggling to accept an impossible reality, pulled up the medical research and said simply, “If you don’t believe me, read it.” She has buried both of her parents. She has navigated surgeons, insurance, and long-distance drives through snowstorms in the dark. She knows what she is made of, and she knows that loving someone sometimes means making the hardest calls on their behalf.
So when her father was brought by ambulance to a hospital in Roanoke after a freak accident on a snowy evening, Sara didn’t crumble. She got to work.
It had been a light dusting of snow. Her father stepped onto the tailgate of his truck to grab a leaf blower, thinking it would be easier than shoveling. He slipped and fell backward, hitting his head. A passing neighbor found him and tracked Sara down through Facebook while she was out of town.
On her way to the hospital, Sara spoke with his doctors and was told he would likely be ready to go home by the time she arrived. That was not how things unfolded. Thirty-eight days later, they said goodbye.
When it came time to decide what came next, Sara leaned on the network she had built over years in Roanoke. She called people she trusted, people connected to Good Samaritan. One name kept coming back: the Sheila S. Strauss Hospice House, the Roanoke Valley’s first freestanding hospice facility. It was designed not to feel like a hospital, but like a place where families could gather, breathe, and simply be together.
The Sheila S. Strauss Hospice House is a 16,000-square-foot facility with 16 private suites, each with space for loved ones to stay close. Beyond the rooms, there are shared spaces for families: a living room, kitchen, dining area, courtyard, and chapel. Every detail reflects a simple truth. End-of-life care is not just about the patient. It is about everyone who loves them.
What Sara found there is something she still struggles to fully put into words. She returns to one again and again: wonderful. From the moment they arrived, the staff was welcoming and warm. One of the nurses turned out to be a long-lost cousin, a connection neither of them knew until they started talking. In the middle of loss, they found family.
At the Hospice House, Sara found a team that understood what it meant to meet someone where they are. They showed up with presence, not just efficiency. They made sure her father was comfortable, and just as importantly, that she was cared for too. When she hadn’t eaten, they brought her food. When she needed space, they gave it. When she needed support, they were there.
The hospice house provides round-the-clock clinical care for patients whose needs cannot be managed at home, including pain and symptom control and support through complex medical conditions. It also offers short-term residential stays for patients transitioning from hospital to home, along with respite care so caregivers can rest.
Sara never left her father’s side. She stayed with him the entire time. Because the people who designed the Hospice House understood something essential. Comfort is not clinical. It is personal. It looks different for every family.
The experience moved Sara so deeply that she made a donation before she ever left. “I just felt like it was right,” she said. “Because they were good to Dad.”
Today, her and her husband’s names are on a donor plaque in the hallway, part of a growing community of families whose stories now live within those walls.
As a community-based nonprofit, Good Samaritan serves patients regardless of their ability to pay. Hospice services are covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance plans. That commitment matters in a region where many families face end-of-life decisions without the resources or guidance to navigate them.
Sara hopes more people will find the Hospice House without having to fight as hard as she did to get there. She hopes someone tells them sooner.
And if they do, they will find what she found. A place where, even in the hardest moments, families can gather, breathe, and simply be together.
To find out if the Sheila S. Strauss Hospice House is right for you or a loved one’s situation, give us a call at 540-776-0198.
