Hospice will meet you where you are: Bill Finn

Though the leaves are falling and we are starting to settle into the holiday season, our community is still adapting to the complex changes we’ve faced over the last two-and-a-half years. Throughout the month of November, Hospice of the Western Reserve is joining other hospice organizations across the nation to recognize National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. This year’s theme is “meeting you where you are.” As Northern Ohio’s premiere hospice provider, we are embracing these changes to do just that.
Hospice of the Western Reserve is a nonprofit hospice, which allows us to put patients above profit margins. As the number of Americans over age 65 continues to grow, there are companies who seek to profit off one’s end of life journey. According to the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation, the number of for-profit hospices has more than doubled in the last ten years, which can greatly affect the care that patients, families, and communities receive. However, nonprofit hospices like Hospice of the Western Reserve accept all patients, even those who require more complex care and costly interventions. We meet you where you are, no matter your diagnosis.

Perhaps you or your loved one is not ready for hospice, but you are still in need of symptom management and specialized care. We can meet you there, too. Our Western Reserve Navigator program provides quality palliative care for those still receiving treatment for a serious or advanced illness. We work collaboratively with your doctor to help avoid hospital stays, as well as help care for the family and friends who take care of you.

Emotional support is critical during health challenges, end-of-life-care, and grief. Hospice of the Western Reserve meets you where you are at in your grief journey, regardless of if your loved one received care from our agency. Our Healing Arts Workshops, children’s grief camps, and support groups provide a tremendous sense of community for anyone grieving a loss. For our hospice families, we provide individual support for a minimum of 13 months after the loss of a loved one, and we follow and support children and pediatric families for 24 months. Grief is a winding, twisting path, and you deserve support every step of the way, no matter where you are in the process.

A key part of our mission is to foster choice in end-of-life care. We will meet you where you want to receive our hospice services, whether it is in your home, in an assisted-living or nursing home, or one of our state-of-the-art inpatient units. This year, we acquired Stein Hospice, which brought our service area up to 13 counties. We also re-opened our Medina inpatient unit, allowing us to continue our service and commitment to the community.

A common misconception about hospice care is that it is about dying. Hospice care is about celebrating the remarkable life you have lived and providing comfort for you and your loved ones at the end of your life. Our clinical teams, bereavement and spiritual care coordinators, volunteers, and support staff are truly some of the most generous and compassionate people we could ever hope to meet in our corner of the world. And we are here and honored to meet you wherever you are in your journey.

Bill Finn is the President & CEO of Hospice of the Western Reserve, serving 14 counties in Northern Ohio.