Hospice Day at the Capital in February

Sen. Tom Buford and Sen. Kathy Stein greet Hospice of the Bluegrass professionals during Hospice Day at the Capital in February.

Hospice of the Bluegrass Announces Availability of Grief Counselors

Hospice of the Bluegrass announced that grief counselors are now available to anyone affected by tornados in any of the 32 Kentucky counties served by Hospice.

“The thoughts and prayers of the entire Hospice of the Bluegrass organization go out to the communities affected by this tragedy,” said Gretchen Brown, Hospice President and CEO. “Hospice staff and volunteers live, work and serve patients in five of the counties that were hit particularly hard by last week’s tornados. Hospice staff is collecting donations to help with immediate needs, and grief counselors are available now and for as long as needed to help these communities heal.”

People can reach grief counselors at any of the following numbers:

  • (606) 437-3700 (Magoffin, Floyd and Pike counties)
  • (606) 439-2111 (Morgan, Wolfe, Breathitt, Leslie, Perry, Knott and Letcher counties)
  • (606) 573-6111 (Harlan and Bell counties)
  • (606) 523-3090 (Whitley, Knox, Clay and Laurel counties)
  • (859) 441-6332 (Campbell, Kenton, Boone, Gallatin, Carroll and Grant counties)
  • (502) 223-1744 (Owen, Franklin, Anderson and Woodford counties)
  • (859) 234-6462 (Scott, Harrison, Bourbon and Nicholas counties)
  • (859) 276-5344 (Fayette and Jessamine counties)

Board Officers for 2012 Announced

Hospice of the Bluegrass has announced board officers for 2012: Chair: Woodford Webb, the Webb Companies; Vice Chair: Mark Nabity, Grayhawk, LLC; Treasurer: Jen Shah, Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC; and Secretary: Eric Frankl, Blue Grass Airport.

Hospice of the Bluegrass also welcomes the following new members to its 2012 Board of Directors: Bruce Brooks, Farmers Bank & Capital Trust Company (retired) and Dr. J.D. Miller, Appalachian Regional Healthcare.

Hospice of the Bluegrass message currently running on television stations in the Northern Kentucky service area.

Two additional messages are available to view on our YouTube Channel.

Hospice of the Bluegrass to add 10-12 Nursing Positions Changing Caseloads to Provide More Nurses for Patients and Families

Hospice of the Bluegrass announced today that it is changing staff caseloads to increase the availability of nurses to patients and families. This move will create 10-12 additional nursing positions by early next year. Unfortunately, the move will mean the elimination of up to 20 social work positions across the state in Hospice’s 32 county service area.

Patients, families and the medical community have relied on Hospice for end of life expertise for more than 30 years. Hospice of the Bluegrass is committed to compassionate quality patient care. This commitment to patients requires Hospice to continually evaluate how care is provided to ensure that services the terminally ill patients receive remains at an exceptional level.

“Through feedback from staff and families, we have determined that patient needs require increased nursing interventions. This caseload modification will increase the time nurses can spend with patients,” said Gretchen Brown, president and CEO.

Hospice of the Bluegrass has offices in Lexington, Nicholasville, Frankfort, Cynthiana, Florence, Hazard, Corbin, Harlan and Pikeville. The Corbin, Harlan and Pikeville offices will not lose any social work positions.

Employees affected by the change will be offered a severance package and given at least 60 days notice in order to make appropriate arrangements.

“This was not an easy decision, nor will it be an easy process in the coming months. We would prefer attrition as a way to achieve the targeted caseload assignments, but social workers have the lowest turnover rate of all disciplines and it could take several years to reach the appropriate staffing level,” added Brown. “Ultimately, Hospice makes decisions based on what will improve the quality of the care received by patients and families. At the same time, we care about the employees who are losing their positions and will do what we can to make a difficult situation more bearable.”

Brown added that this move is not financially motivated because the personnel costs for the new nurses will be about the same or greater than the costs of the displaced social workers.

Palliative Care Center Moves to New Office

Hospice of the Bluegrass’ Palliative Care Center opens a new office space today at 2407 Member’s Way in Lexington. The Center was previously located at the St. Joseph Office Park. The Palliative Care Center is a nonprofit subsidiary of Hospice of the Bluegrass. It is an interdisciplinary practice of professionals that provides palliative care consultations in a clinic setting, in hospitals and in long-term care facilities.

Palliative care and hospice care are often used synonymously but they are not identical. “Palliative care is the symptom-directed, patient-centered and life-affirming care of individuals, their families and friends who are living with serious illness,” says Dr. Todd Coté, Chief Medical Officer. ”The ultimate goal of palliative care is to improve the quality of life for the patient and family. The focus is on a patient’s need for pain control and symptom management caused by the disease process whatever the diagnosis or treatments for the disease. Not only are physical problems of the patient addressed, but also the emotional, social and spiritual concerns of both the patient and family.”

Palliative care is provided by a team of doctors, nurses and other specialists who work with a patient’s own doctors to provide an extra layer of support to the patient and family. Palliative care is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided together with curative treatment.

“Hospice care is a subset of palliative care,” says Dr. Coté. “It is palliative care for individuals with a life-limiting or terminal illness. Hospice care is typically for individuals with a life expectancy of six months or less. There is a shift in focus of the treatments and interventions an individual receives. The purpose of any treatment, therapies or interventions for an individual are applied with the purpose of managing bothersome symptoms and maximizing quality of life.”

Many patients with life-limiting diseases are candidates for palliative care, even if they are receiving active treatment for their illness. Consultations are available in Lexington hospitals, long-term care facilities and the out-patient clinic. Patients interested in this service should speak to their primary care physician. For more information, contact the Palliative Care Center at (859) 278-4869.

HOB Clinical Chief Elected to UK Hall of Fame

Sherri Weisenfluh, associate chief clinical officer at HOB, has been inducted into the University of Kentucky’s College of Social Work Hall of Fame. “Sherri embodies the complete social worker,” HOB President/CEO Gretchen Brown said. “Not only is she an excellent clinician, she is a talented manager, respected colleague, and coveted collaborator.”

Weisenfluh, who earned her master’s degree in social work at UK in 1986, joined HOB 19 years ago and has been instrumental in elevating its counseling department. In her current role, she directs all HOB counseling programs, including social work, bereavement, chaplaincy, spiritual-care education and expressive therapy (music, art, etc.). She is responsible for the practice of more than 150 clinicians.

Brown described Weisenfluh as “one of the social work pioneers in the growing palliative care movement.” Among many other achievements, Weisenfluh helped the National Association of Social Workers develop a social-work certification in hospice and palliative care. Today, about 30 percent of HOB’s social workers have earned this certification.

The Hall of Fame inclusion is decided by other social workers, and Weisenfluh said she was particularly honored to know that “my colleagues value and respect my contributions to the field of social work. When the dean of the college introduced past recipients, I really felt proud to be among others that I admire.”

Weisenfluh thanked Brown for “giving me the opportunity and the support to pursue my goals. End-of life care is challenging but meaningful and I feel blessed to be able to work in this field.”

In her nomination letter, Brown wrote that Weisenfluh’s contributions to the field of social work, hospice and palliative care “are really without peer.” Brown added: “More than all of this, her co-workers value her intelligent problem-solving, her supportive counsel, her calm demeanor, her work ethic, honesty and integrity and her wry sense of humor.”

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