Below is a listing of our most recent News and Press Release updates.
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Releases here.
Hope
introduces new, comprehensive care program for seniors
One of only two approved programs in Florida
Posted: January 28, 2008
(Fort Myers, Fla.) – Hope Hospice and Community Services has introduced a new health care program to provide all needed preventive, primary, acute and long term care services to the frail elderly in Lee County. Hope Select Care enables seniors to continue to live independently at home.
According to Hope Hospice President and CEO Samira K. Beckwith, “People usually want to live at home for as long as possible, although they may need special health care services in order to remain at home. Hope Select Care meets their needs and at the same time makes life much easier for their family caregivers.”
Hope Select Care is a PACE program, which stands for Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly. It is a Medicare Provider type that meets the total health care needs of its participants with a unique array of services. Hope Select Care is only the second such program approved in the state of Florida, and one of only 35 in the country.
Hope Select Care serves individuals age 55 and older who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and receive an appropriate level of care assessment by the Department of Elder Affairs CARES team. Additionally, the enrollee must be able to live at home safely with additional services as needed. Upon enrollment, participants may receive:
- Primary medical and nursing care
- Occupational, physical and speech therapy
- Medications and medical equipment
- Laboratory and diagnostic services
- All necessary prescription drugs
- Skilled home care and personal care aides
- Hospitalization, skilled nursing facility care and end of life care
- Care from medical specialists in cardiology, nephrology, ophthalmology, dermatology, orthopedics, surgery and podiatry
- Transportation to and from the Hope Select Care facility, medical appointments and outings
The broad range of services also includes access to the Hope Health Center in Fort Myers, a state-of-the-art adult day health care facility. Here, clients may participate in stimulating activates including light exercise, games, gardening and arts. Beautician services and other amenities are also available.
This comprehensive, coordinated approach eliminates the need to access individual services from multiple care providers.
“Another critically important benefit of Hope Select Care is the support it gives to family members,” Beckwith said. “Caring for an aging loved one is one of life’s most difficult challenges. Family members have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their loved one is receiving all the care they need in a safe, comfortable and familiar environment – their own home.”
For more information about Hope Select Care, call (239) 985-6400.
Two Hope nurses to be honored
Posted: January 15, 2008
Two Hope Hospice nurses, Barbara L. Anderson and Doris Slabinski, are among 21 finalists for the Rose of Care Award.
The award, created to honor the memory of Dr. Ingeborg Mauksch will be presented on January 29 at the Forest Country Club in Fort Myers.
During Dr. Mauksch's lifetime of service she helped develop the role of the Nurse Practitioner, promoted Hospice Care, and was an active founder of the nursing program at Florida Gulf Coast University.
The evening will honor the 21 finalists who serve Southwest Florida as nurses. The recipient of the Rose of Care Award will receive a pin designed by local jeweler Mark Loren and a Nurses Mission trip to Israel, sponsored by Hadassah, the organization whose local chapter created this award.
Hope
Hospice Tree of Lights Enters 24th Season
More trees, commemorative ornament added this year
Posted: November 15, 2007
(Fort Myers, Fla.) -- This year marks the 24th season for the Hope Hospice and Community Services Tree of Lights at Edison Mall. This signature event enables Hope Hospice supporters to decorate the tree and honor a loved one while making a contribution to Hope.
With each donation, participants have the opportunity to honor or memorialize a loved one by writing their name on a butterfly ornament, which is placed on the tree. “Our tree has become a traditional way for people in our community to remember their loved ones. We are committed to caring for everyone who needs our services, regardless of their ability to pay, so this is a special holiday gift for us as well,” according to Hope President and CEO Samira K. Beckwith. “We are grateful to the management of the Edison Mall for hosting this event each year,” she added.
This year, Hope has created a special commemorative tree ornament as a personal keepsake. The ornaments, adorned with butterflies and holly and packaged in a gift box, are available at the Tree of Lights for a donation of $20. With this donation, participants may also place a butterfly on the tree.
Because of the popularity of this event, Hope has added a second location this year. The trees are located at the main entrance to the mall at the information desk, and adjacent to Santa’s station, near Dillard’s.
The Tree of Lights runs through December 23.
Hope Hospice and Community Services is a not-for-profit, 501 (c)(3)-status community-based health care agency, providing a variety of services to all people with complex needs related to transitions, loss and end of life. Support Hope as a donor or volunteer by calling 800-835-1673.
Guest opinion: New research findings: patients live longer under hospice care
By Samira
K. Beckwith
Saturday, July 21st, 2007
A common misperception among Americans is that entering hospice care means there is no tomorrow. However, a new study suggests otherwise.
The study was conducted by researchers for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the highly regarded consulting and actuarial firm, Milliman Inc. The researchers evaluated 4,493 patients with various forms of cancer and congestive heart failure. They analyzed the differences between those who received hospice care and those who did not. Data came from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and represented a statistically valid sampling. The finding was that the hospice patients in this group lived an average of 29 days longer than the non-hospice patients.
This means that in many cases, the hospice patient may have more precious days to spend with family and friends. This gift of time may be needed for resolution and closure. It can be an opportunity to mend or strengthen relationships and to enjoy reminiscing. Of course, this can also be a tremendous benefit to the family, having more time to express their love and to say goodbye.
What accounts for the increased longevity? According to the study, patients entering hospice in a weakened condition may avoid the risks of being over treated for their illness.
Secondly, hospice patients may receive better monitoring, treatment, medications and therapies. Further, the physical, emotional and spiritual support provided by hospice may also be a factor in extending life, as this kind of care alleviates anxiety and fear.
Hope Hospice serves each patient with a team consisting of a physician, nurse, social worker, bereavement counselor, pharmacist, chaplain and volunteers, all focused on the needs of the individual. Support and training for family caregivers is also provided.
The study also suggests that the use of sedatives and opioids do not negatively affect the patient’s longevity, as some health care providers have believed.
It has been often said that while hospice cannot add days to a person’s life, it can add quality to the days. According to this research, we may actually be doing both.
This study supports our affirmation that hospice care is really about living, not about giving up. Every day at Hope, we see how hospice can improve the quality of life.
—
Samira K. Beckwith, LCSW, FACHE, is president and CEO of Hope Hospice
and Community Services, a not-for-profit, 501 (c)(3)-status community-based
health care agency. Hope provides services to all people with complex
needs related to transitions, loss and end of life. Support Hope as a
donor or volunteer by calling 800-835-1673. For more information: www.hopehospice.org
Lehigh
Acres getting Hospice House
Community Health Association donates land for facility
By Mark S. Krzos, News-Press
Originally posted on July 06, 2007
Hope Hospice is coming to Lehigh Acres.
Samira Beckwith, Hope's president and chief executive officer, said a Hospice House featuring 24 beds will be built on 5 acres donated by Lehigh's Community Health Association.
The Hospice House will be at 11 Beth Stacey Blvd., behind Lehigh Community Services.
"We're very fortunate because of the donation of the land," said Beckwith, adding that Hope had wanted a Lehigh facility similar to Bonita Springs' Joanne's House for some time. "All of our Hospice homes are running at a high occupancy level. We wanted to go east and we think Lehigh will provide better access to people in Hendry and Glades counties."
Beckwith said details about the facility are still uncertain.
"We're just starting the zoning process and that'll play the biggest role in when we can start construction," she said. "It could take a year. We want to break ground as soon as the zoning is complete."
Preliminary plans for the building call for an Old Florida architectural design, office space, all the amenities patients need and a series of grief programs, Beckwith said.
A staff of about 70 is expected, she added.
Once construction is complete, Lehigh's Hope House will be the fourth in Lee County. The others are in Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and at HealthPark in south Fort Myers.
Fundraising for the construction is expected to begin this fall. "We're going to start our capital campaign later this year," Beckwith said. "We're going to need to raise between $3 and $5 million."
Hope's plan for a Lehigh house has been in the works for more than a year, said Hugh Vanhoose, executive director of the Community Health Association.
The association formed in 1964 as Lehigh Acres General Hospital and when the hospital was sold in the mid-1980s, the association lost its status as a charity and became a private foundation.
"We took the money from the sale of the hospital and a nursing home and started giving it away," said Vanhoose, explaining that the foundation is required to give away 5 percent of its assets each year.
Eventually, the money raised through the association went toward funding the Lehigh Literacy Council, Lehigh Community Services, Childcare of Southwest Florida and the Lee County School District's School Choice office.
"Our mission is health-oriented," Vanhoose said. "One of the things we wanted to do was bring a hospice facility to Lehigh Acres."
Vanhoose said donation of the 5 acres to Hope Hospice is the equivalent of $1.5 million, which will satisfy its asset distribution requirement for the next several years.
"A hospice facility is something that's needed out here," he said. "We're trying to remain true to that same vision we had back in 1964."
Oliver Conover, executive director of the Lehigh Acres Chamber of Commerce, said the arrival of a Hope Hospice home in Lehigh is another example of groups paying attention to a need.
"If someone has to go to hospice now, they have to drive 20 miles over to HealthPark," he said. "Having one in Lehigh makes it much more convenient for families here and places like LaBelle."
Naples
Daily News: Alzheimer’s essay by Estero High grad honored
JESSICA
COSDEN, Daily News Correspondent
Saturday, June 2, 2007
For most, the high school years are a time to come of age, but for Jake Howell they coincided with the deterioration and death of someone close to him.
His grandmother, Evelyn Woodall, died in August 2006, at the start of Howell’s senior year. She had suffered for several years from Alzheimer’s, and, during his sophomore year, moved from Louisiana into his family’s house in Southwest Florida.
The two-plus years he spent with his grandmother changed how Howell viewed Alzheimer’s, and possibly his career path. His essay about the experience earned the 2007 Estero High School graduate one of two annual $1,000 scholarships from the Alvin A. Dubin Alzheimer’s Resource Center.
Woodall was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s during Howell’s freshman year. He knew she had been having problems but was unaware of the breadth of the debilitating disease until she moved in with the family.
When they brought in the hospital bed, he said, “it seemed so surreal.”
Overnight, he went from seeing his grandmother once or twice yearly to daily.
“My emotions ran the gamut: from excitement, to anger, to denial, to acceptance,” Howell wrote in his essay.
Asked to describe his grandmother in that time, Howell used one word: “feisty.” And that personality quirk did not go away as the disease progressed. “I kind of wish it had,” Howell said with a laugh.
While he got to know her more in-depth than ever before, he also felt a growing gap.
“We got closer yet farther away because of the disease,” he said.
It wasn’t long before Hope Hospice nurses and volunteers, described as “knights in shining armor” in the essay, came to the home. Soon, Howell was channeling his grief and frustration into a healthy, productive endeavor: volunteering at Hope Hospice.
Dotty St. Amand, executive director of the Dubin Center, said the experience was crucial for Howell.
“One of the things that struck me as particularly touching was how he took his experience of caring for his grandmother and turned that into helping other people,” she said. “Hope Hospice volunteers helped his grandmother in the home, and he turned that around and now volunteers for the organization.”
Howell’s mother, Patsy Howell, praised her son for his strength during those difficult years.
“He’s got the best coping skills,” she said.
Patsy Howell wanted to surprise both her son and St. Amand after learning he was a scholarship recipient so she told her son to go to the Dubin Center and pick up his “losing” essay.
“I got there, though, and they told me I had won,” Jake Howell said with a smile. “I was shocked. My mother wanted (St. Amand) to be able to see the look on a scholarship winner’s face because she never gets to see that.”
Encore Senior Village has teamed up with the Dubin Center for five years to offer the scholarship to area high school seniors affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
The scholarship was funded this year through money raised in a production by drama students at Fort Myers High School.
Jake said the entire chain of events has led him to his career aspiration: a pharmacist for hospice care patients. After Edison College, Howell hopes to go on to the University of Florida’s pharmacy school.
“I
am blessed for I have discovered both my vocation and avocation,”
Howell wrote in his winning essay. “The impact my grandmother had
on my life is best described by a quote from Dr. Seuss: ‘Don’t
cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.’”
Dale J. Anderson named Senior Vice President of Care Services
April 11, 2007
Hope Hospice President and CEO Samira K. Beckwith today announced the appointment of Dale J. Anderson as Senior Vice President of Care Services for Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties, effective May 7, 2007.
Anderson has been a health care administrator for more than 30 years, and has a history of improving heath care in central Florida. Most recently he served as Executive Director of the Central Florida Physicians Alliance in Lakeland, where he managed a growing independent practice association of 190 physicians.
He has also served as Executive Director of LifePath Hospice. As Chief Administrative Officer at Watson Clinic in Lakeland, Anderson greatly increased the number of physicians and service locations. Active in the community, he is Vice Chair of the Polk Health Care Alliance. Anderson is a Certified Hospice Administrator and Fellow of the American College of Medical Practice Executives.
“Dale will be tremendous asset to the entire community in his new role,” Beckwith said. “With his extensive experience and skills, particularly in hospice, the people of central Florida will have greater access to the highest quality of care.”
Hope Hospice
serves patients throughout southwest and central Florida, including Polk,
Highlands and Hardee counties, with offices in Lakeland and Sebring.
Jake Howell's winning essay
American cartoonist Scott Adams said, “You don’t have to be a ‘person of influence’ to be influential. In fact, the most influential person in my life is probably not even aware of the things they’ve taught me.”
What a fitting quote to describe my grandmother, Evelyn Woodall, who suffered from Alzheimer’s! She will never know the significant impact she had on my life.
Four years ago at the beginning of my high school years, my grandmother was thrust overnight into our home to live as, what came to be, a permanent resident in our home. Little did I know how soon my life would change. Like many family members who become caregivers for an aging relative, my emotions ran the gamut: from excitement, to anger, to denial, to acceptance.
I looked to my grandmother as a driving force of motivation. Instead of groveling in my sorrow and anger at the 24-hour pressures felt in our home, I used the pain and suffering that my grandmother had to endure and revive my energy to move towards positive choices that would influence and drive my future.
Three events collided at the same time: I was assigned a research paper to identify career choices, my grandmother had a stroke, and Hope Hospice volunteers entered our home.
Each event had a huge impact on my life. Through my research, I discovered one pre-requisite for admission to the school of pharmacy was to work a minimum of 300 hours in a pharmacy setting. But at 17, who would hire me so I could obtain this experience?
Next, my grandmother had a stroke. Not only did my grandmother have mascular degeneration and Alzheimer’s, but now she was bedridden due to a stroke. My mother, the main caregiver, was exhausted but had to drive on. How could I help her so she would not fall apart? The pressure in the house was about to explode.
Finally, like knights in shining armor, Hope Hospice nurses, nurse’s aides, and volunteers charged on the scene. Like a breath of fresh air, help for the (tired) weary entered our home. I observed first-hand the impact these people had on a difficult and challenging situation. I began to replace sadness, hopelessness and helplessness with a sense of unique, approachable and practical strategies for living with my aging grandmother.
Five weeks after Hope Hospice entered our home, I decided to join the ranks of Hospice volunteers. One requirement to become a Hospice volunteer was to take a three-day intense seminar on caring for the dying.
Through the Hospice class I learned facts and techniques for working with the elderly and became the main emotional support for my mother as she cared for my dying grandmother. I maximized my listening skills and developed a deeper heart to help the elderly. After several interviews, I was granted permission to become the first volunteer to work in Hope’s pharmacy department. I am blessed for I have discovered both my vocation and avocation.
The impact my grandmother had on my life is best described by a quote from Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
Spring
Luncheon to Benefit Hope Hospice
Fifth Annual Event Features “Unforgettable Tables”
(Bonita
Springs, Fla.) – The Women’s Committee for Hope Hospice at
Bonita Springs hosts their fifth annual luncheon to benefit Hope on April
16 at 11 am, at the Quail West Country Club. This year’s theme will
again be “Unforgettable Tables,” as local designers create
distinctive and unusual table settings for the luncheon.
Many of the items to be used in the table settings will be offered at a silent auction.
“The Women’s Committee luncheon is always a lovely event, and the table designs are a must-see,” according to Hope President and CEO Samira K. Beckwith. “This event is a fun and creative way of supporting our important work, and we are truly grateful to the Committee.”
Tickets are available for $100 each. Contact Barbara Brown at (239) 489-9147.
Hope Hospice and Community Services is a not-for-profit, 501 ©(3) status community-based health care agency, providing a variety of services to all people with complex needs related to transitions, loss and end of life. Support Hope as a donor or volunteer by calling 800-835-1673.
April 2007 - Leading Central Florida Health Care Executive Joins Hope Hospice
December
2006 - Hope will
walk last mile to ensure quality of life...
November 2006 - Hope
Hospice Tree of Lights Enters 23rd Season.
November 2006 - Hope
Seeks to Provide Care in Collier County.