VITAS Innovative Hospice Care Of Volusia And Flagler Counties Opens
VITAS' Newest Hospice Program To Provide Compassionate, Professional End-of-Life Care
Ormond Beach, FL - VITAS Innovative Hospice Care has received state authority to open VITAS Innovative Hospice Care of Volusia and Flagler Counties and is now serving patients. The Volusia-Flagler hospice program is the newest of seven VITAS hospice programs in Florida and the 35th VITAS program throughout the country.
"More than twenty-five years ago, VITAS helped defined hospice care by opening our first programs in Florida," said Deirdre Lawe, VITAS executive vice president, development and public affairs. "Today, we recognize that there are still many underserved communities in our state. I'm proud to announce that VITAS' compassionate, professional care is now available to patients and families in Volusia and Flagler Counties.
"Whenever VITAS has entered a new market, whether through expansion or acquisition, the community has benefited from an across-the-board increase in hospice care usage -- to the benefit of patients and families and all hospice providers in that market," Lawe explained. "Florida's oldest not-for-profit hospice, Hospice of Central Florida, for example, merged with VITAS Innovative Hospice Care in 1996. Ensuring that this respected program would continue to grow and to improve was the driving force behind VITAS' decision to merge. Seven years after the merger, the number of patients receiving hospice care in Greater Orlando had more than doubled, as did other key indicators," she added.
VITAS hospice programs around the country are committed to continually improving clinical care by using an interdisciplinary approach to providing hospice care and caregiver education. Its proprietary information technology, "Vx," was created to track the effectiveness of that care. VITAS' compassionate care focuses on the medical, social and spiritual needs of patients and their families, from employing VITAS' own hospice-specific pain formulary and protocols to manage pain.
VITAS' Volusia and Flagler program will provide responsive, round-the- clock hospice care, and patients and families in the program area will be able to access VITAS staff day or night through a 24-hour Telecare(R) call center staffed by VITAS triage nurses.
VITAS cares for all hospice-appropriate patients referred for care, regardless of their ability to pay. Since VITAS accepts Medicare and Medicaid as 100% coverage for its hospice services, there are no out-of-pocket expenses to patients or their loved ones for VITAS care. In addition, VITAS provides more charity care than any other hospice operating in the United States.
Volunteers are warmly encouraged to contact the program office at 386/677- 3392 for opportunities to participate in patient care. Families may call 800/93-VITAS for more information about hospice or to schedule a free consultation. VITAS Innovative Hospice Care of Volusia and Flagler Counties is located at 533 North Nova Road, Ormond Beach, Florida.
SOURCE: VITAS Innovative Hospice Care