yet ready to enter hospice care — which typically occurs during the last six months of someone ’ s life — they are still in need of extra professional support to address pain symptoms , relieve anxiety and keep up with treatment for their chronic illness .
A patient enters hospice care when treatment is no longer curative and they are given a prognosis of six months or less . The hospice benefit focuses on making the patient and their family as comfortable as possible , while providing emotional and spiritual support as well . In hospice , the patient and family have access to skilled nurses 24 / 7 and a support system to help family caregivers coordinate services , run errands and be there with the patient .
“ Hospice truly supports both the patient and the family . Our staff is there to help families work through hard emotions and get their affairs in order , and in that very difficult moment when a loved one passes , things are taken care of . It ’ s truly how I wish everyone could experience death , because hospice just makes it as good as that type of situation can be ,” says Jessica Hall , director of communications and development at HospiceCare , who had first-hand experience with hospice and palliative care in the state while caring for a family member before joining the HospiceCare team .
HospiceCare offers 16 counties in south-central West Virginia its hospice services and seven counties its palliative care services . The organization also offers grief and loss counseling and Kids Path , a service for children coping with illness or loss .
In 2019 , the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems ranked West Virginia sixth in the nation for its hospice care satisfaction . According to HospiceCare CEO Chris Rawlings , West Virginia ’ s top care might be due to its structure . In the Mountain State , new health care facilities are determined based on a certificate of need , a regulatory mechanism that examines the need for more health care in an area . Because of this , the HospiceCare team is allotted a certain number of counties without having to worry about competing hospice facilities , which means all its funding goes toward caring for the patient rather than non-patient expenses such as marketing and liaisons . Rawlings also believes this better serves West Virginia ’ s rural areas because without the certificate of need , companies that may come in would not bring services to rural patients because of the high cost .
“ In a more competitive landscape , rural West Virginians might not be able to receive those services because companies would have to reallocate resources to higher density and higher margin areas , leaving the state ’ s most rural populations underserved ,” he says .
Rawlings also speculates that West Virginia ’ s strong community-centered culture contributes to the state ’ s top-notch care .
“ West Virginians tend to be pretty empathetic and caring for one another ,” he says . “ I think we approach families like they ’ re our own , and we care for them how we would want our families cared for .” •
CONGRATULATIONS
DAN LAUFFER President & Chief Executive Officer , Thomas Health
on your well-deserved induction into the West Virginia Health Care Hall of Fame .
From all of us at barneshealth
Strategic Marketing & Public Relations
barneshealth . com
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE