Anthony House Announces New Hospice Facility

New York-based Anthony House is winding down fundraising efforts to support the opening of a new inpatient hospice facility.

The hospice provider aims to improve access for patients and their families by launching the new center, which will be located in Oswego County, New York. The region lacks sufficient resources to address the needs of terminally ill patients and their families, according to Executive Director Kateri Spinella.

Anthony House is supported by Wellhouse Ministries, which recently held a community fundraising event as a “final push” for donations, Spinella said.

“The comfort care home that we’re going to bring to Oswego County is critically important because we don’t have a facility where people nearing the end of life can stay and have 24-hour care provided for them,” Spinella told local news.

Patients at the new facility will receive round-the-clock hospice care and supportive services in a home-like environment designed to address their physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

In addition to hospice, Anthony House also offers grief services as part of its Supportive Care Ministries program for bereaved individuals. The nonprofit was named in memory of Anthony Spinella Sr.

The Hospice of Baton Rouge Unveils New Grief Center

The Hospice of Baton Rouge will launch a new grief center aimed at addressing a significant gap of resources for bereaved families who lost loved ones during the pandemic.

Dubbed The Retreat at Quarters Lake, services available at the new center include individual grief counseling and support groups, as well as art, music and pet therapies.

A main goal is to provide a comprehensive support system for individuals of all ages and backgrounds, according to Catherine Schendel, CEO of The Hospice of Baton Rouge.

“We are focusing on some alternative therapies like yoga, meditation, gardening, and even fishing,” Schendel told local news. “We want to utilize the beautiful landscaping here to offer non-traditional grief support as well. We want to ensure everyone has a space to find comfort and community, regardless of their background or affiliation with Hospice Baton Rouge.”

The Hospice of Baton Rouge will also provide community education events at the new center, which will feature a chapel and resource library as well as counseling and classrooms. Outdoor areas include a pavilion for events and camps, a butterfly garden and a pond.

To date, more 1.2 million individuals have died due to COVID-19 across the United States, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Hospice of Baton Rouge is currently seeking volunteers and administrative staff to help with the new grief center’s launch.

Established in 1984, the nonprofit hospice provides care across Baton Rouge, Louisiana and its surrounding four parishes. In addition to hospice, the organization also offers palliative care and pediatric services.

Veteran Guest House to Launch New Facility in Nevada

Nevada-based Veterans Guest House announced plans to open a new six-bed hospice facility to support veterans and their families nearing the end of life

The nonprofit hospice plans to open the facility by the summer of 2025 amid rising demand.

Veterans Guest House’s existing inpatient facility has reached maximum clinical capacity throughout the last year. Launching a new center will help address a tremendous need to improve access for veterans with life-limiting conditions and minimal resources, according to CEO Sylvia Froslie.

“Some of our veterans who we served 30 years ago today continue to come,” Froslie told local news. “Now they’re in a different chapter of their life. They still live rurally. They still have limited financial means and no access to medical care in the communities they call home.”

Terminally ill veterans within a 100-mile radius of the new facility will be eligible to receive treatment. Veterans Guest House also provides transportation assistance to medical appointments and support for basic needs such as food, clothing and other essential items. Individuals also receive personal care assistance with meal preparation, medication management, personal hygiene and companionship.

Veterans Guest House was founded in the 1990s by Chuck Fulkerson and Dick Rhyno after the two veterans recognized a growing need for end-of-life care among their unhoused peers. The nonprofit began as the Veterans Hospital Foundation, later rebranding and opening a three to five-bed hospice facility, which later swelled to a capacity of 12 to the 33 beds.

The hospice provider currently serves communities in Reno and Sparks, Nevada.

“Our solution is providing a home so they can get the hospice care and the 24-hour care that they need when they can’t get that where they live,” Froslie said.

Hospice of the Panhandle’s Swelling Inpatient Reach

West Virginia-based Hospice of the Panhandle recently formed a collaborative partnership with Valley Health to provide hospice care across two of the health system’s hospitals in its home state.

The hospice penned an agreement to offer inpatient supplemental comfort care services at both War Memorial Hospital (WarMH) in Berkeley Springs and Hampshire Memorial Hospital (HMH).

The move marks the entrance of Valley Health’s Hospice in the Hospital program in West Virginia. The program launched at Winchester Medical Center in 2020 and has since expanded across the Virginia-based health system’s geographic footprint.

Having access to hospice services during and after a hospitalization is critical to continuous support for patients and their families, said Hospice of the Panhandle CEO Nikki Bigiarelli.

“Hospice of the Panhandle is very excited to partner with Valley Health for this initiative,” Bigiarelli said in a statement. “Our goal is to assure that the patients we serve in Morgan and Hampshire counties have access to this important resource and receive the best end-of-life care that Valley Health and Hospice of the Panhandle can provide.”

Unveiled in November, the new program supports terminally ill hospitalized patients who are eligible to receive general inpatient (GIP)hospice. Through the collaboration, Hospice of the Panhandle will help address patients’ uncontrolled pain and symptoms who may require intensive management receiving care at WarMH and HMH hospitals.

The program is designed to improve access and quality to end-of-life care.

“We always want our end-of-life patients to feel supported and loved and treated with dignity. Together with Hospice of the Panhandle, we can expand upon the end of life services that we offer,” said Heather Sigel, vice president of operations at HMH and WarMH hospitals. “This is a much-needed service in our communities for those people who choose to utilize the hospital as their final resting place.”