LifeCare Hospice has announced plans to join Ohio’s Hospice, a strategic partnership committed to sustaining not-for-profit, community-based hospice care in Ohio.

LifeCare Hospice, based in Wooster, Ohio, is a not-for-profit hospice serving patients since 1982 in Wayne and Holmes counties. LifeCare is providing services to 160 patients and families daily. Formerly called Hospice and Palliative Care of Greater Wayne County, LifeCare Hospice is a not-for-profit hospice serving patients and their families in Wayne County, Holmes County, and the Wadsworth-Rittman area.

Executive Director, Kurt Holmes is excited by the opportunities the affiliation with Ohio’s Hospice offers not-for-profit providers. “We are always looking for ways to improve our service to our patients and families. The Ohio’s Hospice partners are a collection of outstanding not-for-profit hospices who share our vision for service. The ability to collaborate with other professionals will strengthen our local mission. For more than 35 years, LifeCare Hospice has provided compassionate care and choice to neighbors and friends facing the last season of life. We are excited to be able to keep that promise by leveraging our strengths as part of Ohio’s Hospice.”

Ohio’s Hospice was established in 2013 as a collaboration of Hospice of Dayton, Hospice of Butler & Warren Counties and Hospice of Miami County to ensure the long-term success of the shared mission of serving more patients and their families with even higher levels of hospice care. Since then, the affiliation has expanded to include Hospice of Central Ohio, Community Mercy Hospice and Community Care Hospice.

Now along with LifeCare Hospice, Ohio’s Hospice will deliver:

• More visits and direct care to patients than any other regional hospice provider;
• More resources to provide care to patients and their families, like spiritual care, respiratory therapy, massage, occupational, bereavement and art therapies; and,
• More support by serving patients wherever they call home, in every care setting, including extended care facilities, assisted living facilities, hospice houses and hospital in-patient settings.

Monica Miyashita, President of the board of directors at LifeCare, said, “We are very excited about joining forces with Ohio’s Hospice, a not-for-profit hospice that shares our values of compassionate care and a strong commitment to the local community. Ohio’s Hospice is an innovator in hospice care with many thoughtful and patient-centered care ideas that we are looking forward to providing to our patients. With the ever-changing healthcare market, we are pleased to be able to partner with a non-profit organization that allows us to offer outstanding levels of patient care to the community.”

Former LifeCare Hospice Executive Director Carol McKiernan observed, “For over 35 years LifeCare Hospice has enjoyed the support of the Wayne and Holmes County community as the premier provider of hospice and palliative care in our area. I am pleased to see it growing in a way that maintains its commitment to excellence in the delivery of patient care and family-based services while building for the future. Ohio’s Hospice enjoys a decades-long reputation at the state and national level for its leadership in the field of hospice care. The relationship between the two organizations will benefit the community and strengthen Life Care’s mission and vision.”

“The affiliates of Ohio’s Hospice together set the standard for end-of-life care in the state,” says Ohio’s Hospice Board Chair Greg Toman. “Our shared expertise and commitment to quality are evident in the sheer number of resources devoted to patient care, not to making a profit where many competitors focus. Working, sharing, and planning together creates for stronger community hospices and enhances the quality of care and services in the communities we serve.”

“Together, the affiliates of Ohio’s Hospice will set the highest standard of care to ensure Ohioans have access to world class end-of-life and palliative care. Each affiliate is strengthened by sharing resources and is enabled to respond to the increasing regulatory challenges and a declining reimbursement environment,” said Kent Anderson, President and CEO of Ohio’s Hospice. “By expanding our strategic partnership, we continue to grow, protect jobs and maintain strong partnerships with local partners.”