HospiceCare
With the goal of using compassionate care
to enhance the lives of individuals living
with life-limiting illnesses and support their
families, HospiceCare offers hospice and
palliative care services and grief and loss
programs to West Virginia families.
Founded in 1979 by volunteers who served
patients in their homes in Charleston,
HospiceCare is now celebrating its 40th
anniversary. The organization has grown
to serve more than 3,000 patients and their
families in 16 West Virginia counties: Boone,
Braxton, Clay, Fayette, Greenbrier, Jackson,
Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Monroe, Nicholas,
Pocahontas, Putnam, Roane, Summers and
Webster.
HospiceCare services include comprehensive
pain and symptom management; skilled
nurses available around the clock; certified
nursing assistants who provide bathing,
dressing and personal care for patients;
support for family caregivers; spiritual and
emotional support from chaplains and
counselors; and volunteers who can run
errands and help with household chores.
(DHHR), and for more than 10 years
he served as the clinical director for the
DHHR’s Forensic Evaluation Unit located
at South Central Regional Jail to provide
secondary assessments for the courts. He
has also worked with what is now the
West Virginia Division of Corrections
and Rehabilitation since 1995 to provide
mental health services within the adult
and juvenile prison systems. Today, he
works with the West Virginia State Police
and other law enforcement agencies and
first responders offering pre-employment
evaluations and assessments after officers
have been exposed to stressful situations.
Early in his career, Clayman spent
time training health care professionals on
end-of-life care and stress management,
and this work inspired him to advocate
for more humane terminal care. As a
result, he helped develop the guidelines
for Medicare reimbursement that would
later become the criteria for HospiceCare,
where he served as the first president.
“The initial mandate evolved into our
volunteer group delivering home-based
care when requested,” he says. “During my
tenure as founding president, the organi-
zation grew and began offering training to
community volunteers to help provide care.”
Today, Clayman focuses on forensic
psychology within his practice, Clayman
& Associates, PLLC, which specializes in
conducting psychological assessments of
individuals involved in the legal system,
business-related issues and law enforcement.
While he initially only saw himself work-
ing in West Virginia for a few years, his
decision to stay has changed his life and
the lives of countless others.
“Wherever I travel, I make sure others
know I am from West Virginia and seek to
educate them about the wonders of this
state in spite of the many challenges we
face,” he says. “There is no other place
where I would have been able to excel
and contribute on a statewide level as I
have here.”
While Medicare, Medicaid and most private
insurance companies cover hospice services,
it is the philosophy of the organization that
any person who meets the admission criteria
will be treated, regardless of their ability to
pay. Community donations and fundraisers
help fill the funding gaps.
One of many hospice and palliative care
agencies around the state that make up the
Hospice Council of West Virginia, HospiceCare
is part of the network that serves the nearly
1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries who
receive this type of care in the U.S. every
year, according to the National Hospice and
Palliative Care Organization.
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