Hospice & Palliative Care of Western Colorado (Grand Junction, CO)

General

• Mission:

The mission statement of Hospice & Palliative Care of Western Colorado (HPCWC) is “to enhance the quality of life of those facing serious illness and grief.” The mission and vision are focused on comfort, choice and dignity for those living with a serious illness and compassionate support for families, caregivers and friends. Patients and their families, who are facing a life-limiting illness and a six-month prognosis, initially contact hospice with more needs than answers and more fears than hope. Our staff and volunteers are committed to providing the level of support and compassionate care that each patient and family requires to assist them in their journey.

Support comes in the form of “being there” from the time of diagnosis of a serious illness, to after death, not only for patients, but for their loved ones. The organization provides grief support and education to children, teens, and adults. Our commitment to the communities we serve is that access to this level of grief support is available for all, whether they have experienced hospice care or not. Today, our work impacts the lives of over 5,000 people a year in Delta, Mesa, Montrose and Ouray counties through hospice, palliative care and grief support.

For 18 years Hospice & Palliative Care of Western Colorado has impacted the lives of thousands of families in Western Colorado. We’ve been there to hold a quivering hand when life’s end is near, to provide insight and thoughtful counsel when the way is dark, and to ease pain and suffering along the way. In our communities we are seen as “hospice angels” and our families so often tell us, “I don’t know what we would have done without hospice.”

Hospice has created a number of unique programs to meet the needs articulated by our communities. We also have a very dedicated team of staff and volunteers that help carry out the important mission of Hospice every day. Listed below is a summary of various programs:
• Hospice Care - Hospice care helps those living with a serious illness, and their families, focus on quality of life, comfort and control from the time of diagnosis through the final phase of life. In 2010, Hospice care was provided for 1,567 patients at home, in an assisted living facility, in a nursing facility or in a hospital.
• The Grief Center – Grief is a natural and necessary process that occurs when we experience a loss. The Grief Center offers education, counseling and support to anyone in the community who has experienced a loss. In 2010, 249 individuals attended community grief support and education groups and we provided counseling to 68 individuals for 708 counseling sessions.
• Hospice Bereavement Services – There are several ways in which we keep in contact with those grieving the loss of a loved one: through personal visits, phone calls and monthly mailings. In 2010, we served 5,199 individuals whose loved one died in Hospice or experienced a loss in the community without Hospice.
• The Child and Teen Program – This program offers specialized education and support to any child or teenager who has lost someone close to them. We offer age-appropriate support groups, Camp Good Grief for children, a teen grief education retreat, grief groups at area schools, an equine therapy program and individual counseling. In 2010, we served 540 grieving children and teens.
• Palliative Care Service – Palliative care offered through this program is for individuals who need care and support during their illness, but who are not hospice-ready or eligible. The program has a nationally recognized “virtually integrated” program with the VA Medical Center, features expert consultations from physicians who are board certified in palliative care, and a care coordination program. In 2010, 291 Transitions patients received care coordination and/or consults.

• History:

Our organization was founded in 1993 through a collaborative project of five health care institutions to be a comprehensive, non-profit, community-based hospice program. To our knowledge, we are the only hospice in America founded through collaboration between an H.M.O., Regional Medical Center, a competing smaller hospital, a rehabilitation hospital and a V.A. Medical Center. These diverse partners each contributed $75,000 of support or in-kind services to create our community-based 501 C (3) organization. They have continued to support us philanthropically and with integration opportunities.

In 1993 our organization served 200 hospice patients. In 2010 over 1,850 patients received hospice care or palliative care coordination from Hospice & Palliative Care of Western Colorado. Our integration work with health care providers in our community has been instrumental in bringing hospice care to twice as many patients, for twice as long, as the national average. Our hospice census is over 400, in addition, to more than 100 Transitions Palliative Care patients. We believe this achievement has a direct correlation to our unique collaboration with all institutions in our community.

We believe to reach our vision; people must “know us before they need us.” That requires us to play active roles in a broad array of community activities in order to achieve the transformation we are seeking. We want to increase our communities’ total awareness that the experiences of serious illness, dying and grief can be walked with support and comfort.

For example, we have a number of integration activities with schools – from grade schools to universities. In order to achieve our goal of raising the bar for excellence in palliative medicine and nursing, we have integration activities with the University of Colorado School of Medicine Family Practice Residency, Mesa State College, and Western Colorado Community College. We partner with grade schools, junior highs and high schools to offer grief support and education in every school within our school district on school time through collaboration with school counselors and our child grief specialists.

In 2008, our organization achieved one of the dreams of our founders – the opening of a Hospice Campus in Grand Junction. Our 13 patient/family room Hospice Inpatient Care Center opened in the fall of 2008 thanks to generous funding from our community and many foundations. It is a marvelous facility that has exceeded our dreams in providing the best care imaginable for patients and their families. In addition to serving the patients in Mesa County, it bridges the gap in care for rural Colorado hospice patients struggling with difficult symptom management.

Hospice and Palliative Care of Western Colorado has received a number of recognitions over the years for its excellence in service and outcomes. Grand Junction received the national spotlight for some of the lowest cost, highest quality of care for Medicare patients in the country. Our overall costs for the last two years of life for all Medicare beneficiaries is significantly lower than other communities, while achieving one of the highest “penetrations” of hospice care in the country. We have also been recognized for innovation and were selected in 2010 to receive a Citation of Honor from the American Hospital Association as part of their Circle of Life Awards. We are one of six programs selected from all of the nation’s hospitals and hospices to receive this award. This summer Hospice & Palliative Care of Western Colorado was named sixth in a top 10 list of the best large companies to work for in Colorado by the Colorado State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management.

• Year established:1993

Registration

• Organization type:Grantseeker
• Country of registration:United States
• Year established:1993
• Tax Determination Letter:Received Determination Letter
• IRS Section:501(c)(3)
• IRS Subsection:None