Hospice of Lansing

17th Annual Hospice of Lansing Bowling Fundraising

2012-02-23T11:06:00.005-08:00

When:
Saturday, March 31, 2012
12:00 Noon

Where:
Pro-Bowl West
2212 N. MLK Blvd., Lansing

Register:
Join us for bowling and fun and show your support for Hospice of Lansing! Put a team together or let us match you with one! Pre-register in person at Pro-Bowl West or send in the attached form to the Hospice of Lansing office. For more information call 877-882-4500.

Ionia Area Remembrance Celebration

2011-10-21T11:31:00.005-07:00

When:
Wednesday, May 23rd, 6:30 PM

Where:
Lehman Funeral Home
220 Rich St.
Ionia, MI 48846

More Info:
Ionia Area Remembrance Service will include a reading of names, music and memories. Light refreshments and time for conversation will follow the service.

Register:
Call toll free (877) 882-4500 for more information.

Public Service Announcement

2011-10-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

State Hospice Organization Hires CEO

2011-04-05T09:45:00.001-07:00

State Hospice Organization Hires CEO

Lisa Ashley begins her new positions as Michigan Hospice CEO at the end of March, 2011

Lansing, MI – March 18, 2011 –The Michigan Hospice and Palliative Care Organization is pleased to announce that Lisa Ashley has been selected as the organization’s new chief executive officer. Ashley, who starts her position at the end of March, possesses a Master’s Degree in Social Work, is certified as a Nursing Home Administrator, and is credentialed as a Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Administrator by the National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses. She hails from Petoskey, Michigan where she held various positions within the Northern Michigan Regional Health System for fourteen years, including Executive Director of Hospice of Little Traverse Bay, Inc. and Program Director for Palliative Care. While with NMRHS, she was responsible for the implementation of a capital campaign and construction of a dually licensed hospice inpatient facility, day-to-day management of hospice operations, strategic planning, marketing and growth strategies and development of the system’s palliative care services. Ashley served on the board of the state hospice organization for several years before interviewing for the CEO position.

“It’s such an honor to be given this opportunity,” states Ashley. “I am passionate about hospice and palliative care and the importance of these services within our healthcare system. I’m very much looking forward to working with hospices throughout the state and promoting excellent end-of-life care.”

“We are pleased that Lisa will be working with us here at MHPCO,” states Lars Egede-Nissen, Chair of MHPCO’s board of directors. “She brings a vision with her that lends itself well to the needs of the organization and the hospices we serve.”
The Michigan Hospice and Palliative Care Organization advocates for hospices and educates the public about hospice care at the end of life. MHPCO has 135 member hospices throughout the state. To learn more about hospice care visit www.mihospice.org.

For-profits may be cherry-picking hospice patients

2011-04-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

For-profits may be cherry-picking hospice patients
By LINDSEY TANNER
The Associated Press

Tuesday, February 1, 2011; 4:25 PM

CHICAGO -- For-profit hospices may be cherry-picking the least costly, most lucrative patients, potentially putting the nonprofit industry at a financial disadvantage, a study suggests.

The researchers found hospice care provided by for-profit agencies averaged 20 days versus 16 days for nonprofit agencies. Care lasting more than one year was most common among for-profit hospice patients.

Also, compared with nonprofits, for-profits had about twice as many patients with dementia and fewer cancer patients. End-of-life cancer care is typically much more intensive and costly than dementia care.

Patients with more days under hospice care and lower skilled needs may be more profitable under the Medicare reimbursement system for hospices, said lead author Dr. Melissa Wachterman, a palliative care physician at the Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Medicare pays hospices a flat daily rate per patient - roughly $143 daily last year - regardless of how much or how often care is needed.

The fixed rate "may create a financial incentive to select patients requiring less resource-intensive services," the study authors wrote.

But the head of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, which represents 3,800 nonprofit and for-profit hospice providers, said suggesting that the for-profit industry selects certain patients is "a bit of an over-generalization."

Hospice practices including quality of care depend on an organization's staff and leadership, not tax status, said Don Schumacher, the hospice group's CEO.
More than 1 million people nationwide received hospice care in 2009, according to the group. Medicare covers hospice care for patients with a life expectancy of six months or less.

Typically, patients or their families select an agency for hospice care based on referrals by physicians, nursing homes or other professionals.

Whether for-profit hospices actively seek certain kinds of patients - or reject others - to keep costs down can't be gleaned from the study data. The study also did not examine financial differences or quality of care at for-profit and nonprofit hospices.

But the findings raise concerns that to maximize profits, for-profit hospices may be marketing themselves to nursing homes that house a high percentage of less costly patients needing less skilled hospice care, said Wachterman.

"Patient selection of this nature leaves nonprofit hospice agencies disproportionately caring for the most costly patients," the study authors wrote. "As a result, those hospices serving the neediest patients may face difficult financial obstacles to providing appropriate care" in the Medicare payment system.
The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
The researchers examined a 2007 government survey on hospice care. Their study is based on a nationally representative sample of 4,705 patients served by 145 for-profit agencies and 524 nonprofits.

Hospice programs provide comfort care for dying patients in their own homes, nursing homes, hospitals or other care centers. Hospice staff may include doctors, nurses, social workers and home health aides.

Medicare patients comprise 84 percent of hospice patients nationwide.
The authors note there's been a surge in for-profit hospices - from 725 to 1,660 between 2000 and 2007. Nonprofit hospices remained mostly stable during that time, numbering 1,205 in 2007, the study said.

Two of the nation's largest for-profit hospice groups, Miami-based VITAS Innovative Hospice Care and Gentiva Health Services, Inc. in Atlanta, declined to comment on the study.

But a Gentiva spokesman said it doesn't discriminate on the basis of diagnosis, ability to pay "or any other criteria."

Dorothy Deremo, CEO of Hospice of Michigan, one of the nation's largest nonprofit hospice programs, said the study "just confirms what exists" in the hospice industry. For-profit hospice programs "are selectively marketing to those physicians and facilities that will give them the portfolio of patients that will create the highest profit."

While the study lacked data on type of care provided, it found that patient visits from hospice nurses averaged less than once daily in both for-profit and nonprofit hospices. Wachterman said there's a common misconception that hospice workers provide round-the-clock bedside care. Instead, hospice workers typically provide more intermittent care but counsel family members and other caregivers on how to provide "moment to moment" care, and are available 24 hours a day if problems arise, she said.

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Online: JAMA:http://jama.ama-assn.org National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization:http://www.nhpco.org.

Stoneleigh Residence | Fox 47 News

2010-12-08T15:06:00.000-08:00

2010 Trees of Light Memorial Service

2010-11-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

Note: this is information from the 2010 event. If you're looking for information on the 2011 Trees of Light Memorial Service, go here.

Hospice of Lansing Hosts Annual Memorial Service and Fundraiser

Each year Hospice of Lansing hosts their Trees of Light Memorial Service at Stoneleigh Residence, 3411 Stoneleigh, Lansing, to remember and honor loved ones who have died either at home, in a facility, or at Hospice of Lansing’s Stoneleigh Residence.

Who: Hospice of Lansing
“Welcome” by Lars Egede-Nissen, Executive Director
Poetry Reading of “Trees of Light” by Ann Andrews
Musical Offering by Immanuel Lutheran Church Youth Choir, Raymond Harris, Director
Reading from ee cumming’s “i carry your heart with me” by Sally Hall
Reading of the Names by Lars Egede-Nissen, Janet Martinich, Linda Springer
“Amazing Grace” solo by Raymond Harris

What: Trees of Light Memorial Service - Help light up the trees in celebration of the memories of your families and friends. A suggested donation of $15 will help Hospice of Lansing light up their trees in memory of your loved one(s). The service will include a reading of the names, and the lights will then be turned on illuminating the trees in honor of those who have died.

Where: Stoneleigh Residence, 3411 Stoneleigh, Lansing, Michigan

When: Sunday, November 21, 2010 at 6:00pm

Hospice of Lansing pleased President Obama Signs National Hospice Month Proclamation

2010-11-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

In a proclamation issued from the White House, President Obama declared November 2010 as National Hospice Month.

Hospice of Lansing and Ionia Area Hospice are Mid-Michigan’s original hospices. They have been privileged to provide the very best of care for the terminally ill and their families for over 31 years. They are also proud to be a participant in the Michigan Hospice Veteran's Partnership (HVP). This is part of a national network of hospice programs and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, veteran’s service organizations, and the Veterans' Health Administration. The HVP is here to ensure that veterans can access quality end-of-life services.

As announced by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) on November 1 of this year, the proclamation reads in part: "All Americans should take comfort in the important work of hospice care, which enables individuals to carry on their lives, in spite of a terminal illness. During this month, let us recognize those who allow the terminally ill to receive comfortable and dignified care."

The NHPCO continues to state in their November 1, 2010 release:

The Access to care has improved significantly in the three decades since November has been celebrated as National Hospice Month. The first White House proclamation honoring hospice month was signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. At that time, hospices in the US served several thousand individuals and their family members each year. New data from National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization shows that a record 41.5 percent of people who died in the US – 1.56 million patients with life-limiting illness – were served by the nation’s hospices last year.

“We are seeing more and more families avail themselves of the compassionate care but there is still work to be done,” said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. “Too many people only receive care for a few days which is not enough time for patients and families to take full advantage of the wide range of services that hospice and palliative care professionals can offer that help people live as fully as possible up until the end of life.”

“Seasons of Caring,” this year’s theme for National Hospice/Palliative Care Month, reminds people that life’s final seasons can be some of the most fulfilling and encourages timely access to quality care at the end of life.

As part of its commitment to increasing access and helping providers better serve their communities, NHPCO in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), has created We Honor Veterans, a pioneering campaign to help improve the care Veterans receive from hospice and palliative care providers. The We Honor Veterans website, www.wehonorveterans.org, went live only days before National Hospice/Palliative Care Month. Many people may not realize that one out of every four dying Americans served our country in the military – that’s more than 680,000 Veterans who die every year.

Lars Egede-Nissen, Excutive Director of Hospice of Lansing and Ionia Area Hospice says, “I served as an officer in the US Navy and am proud to be honored as a veteran. Because of my personal experience, I am especially committed to serving veterans who are referred to Hospice of Lansing and Ionia Area Hospice for end-of-life care.”

Continued from the release from the NHPCO:

“Through We Honor Veterans we are taking a giant step forward in helping hospice and palliative care providers understand and serve Veterans at the end of life and work more effectively with VA medical facilities in their communities,” said Schumacher.

Hospice and palliative care programs provide pain management, symptom control, psychosocial support, and spiritual care to patients and their families. They also serve as valuable community resources about care options. Hospice is not a place but a philosophy of care created to help people live with dignity, comfort, and compassion at the end of life. Palliative care works to bring this philosophy of care to people earlier in the course of a serious illness.
November provides an important opportunity for hospice and palliative care professionals and volunteers to reach out to community members, referral sources, legislators and the media with important messages about care.

Additional information about hospice, palliative care, advance care planning, and talking with loved ones about these important issues is available from NHPCO’s Caring Connections. For information, to find a local hospice, or to get a free state-specific advance directive form, visit www.caringinfo.org or call the HelpLine at 1 (800) 658-8898.

Care providers will find more information about caring for Veterans at www.wehonorveterans.org.

Hospice of Lansing, a nonprofit, invites the public to celebrate the annual Trees of Light Memorial Service, November 21, at 6:00 pm. The event will be held at the Stoneleigh Residence, 3411 Stoneleigh, Lansing, to remember and honor our loved ones who have died either at home, in a facility, or at our Stoneleigh Residence. A suggested donation of $15 is suggested. This service is held outside on the beautiful grounds of the Stoneleigh Residence. The service will include a reading of the names, and the tree lights will then be turned on illuminating our trees in honor of those who have died.

Hospice Helps with Grief During the Holidays

2009-12-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

The holiday season, traditionally a time to enjoy family gatherings, can be especially difficult for individuals and families who have experienced the death of someone they love.

“Holidays are a time when the world slows down. We get off our treadmill and acknowledge what is important,” notes Jeff Towns, President of the Michigan Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “Time is typically centered on relaxing and enjoying ourselves. We gather with family and dear friends. Consequently, all our losses are felt more acutely during this time. Slowing down means there is more space for pain to make its presence felt.”

Hospice of Lansing and Ionia Area Hospice are experts in grief and can be a welcome source of support to someone who has lost a loved one through death. Most hospice grief support programs are free of charge and are available to anyone in the community, even if the person who died was not a hospice patient.

For those mourning the death of someone important to them, here are a few special ways to acknowledge that loss during this holiday season:

Change some holiday traditions; keep some of the old ones and create new ones.
Develop a special ritual that remembers the person who is gone. Light a candle daily and spend a few minutes in quiet reflection.
Hang an ornament that represents your loved one.
Set a place at the table for your missing loved one.
Say a special prayer in memory of the relationship you are missing.
Give a gift your loved one would have liked to someone in a nursing home.

For more information or to receive special support for your grief during the holiday season, contact Hospice of Lansing and Ionia Area Hospice at (877) 882-4500.