I’m embarrassed to even share this story with you, but as a strong hospice advocate and professional for over 17 years, I feel that it is my duty to inform. This story is about a specific hospice that not only makes it difficult for people to obtain care, it is also a glaring example of an unhealthy corporate culture that is unsuitable for for growth.

There is a built in challenge for hospices that are owned by a health system. The largest challenge being that hospital based hospices are departments within a health system and are treated as such. The biggest impact being some of these hospices are under-capitalized and it affects their ability to compete in the market place. During the budgeting process in a hospital, precious capital is being competed for to fund a new MRIs, surgery suites, etc. Most times, the hospice and home care departments are at the bottom of the list.

Hello from the capital of Ukraine, Kiev! A wonderful and historic city I have been blessed to have visited many, many times. It was one-year ago that I last visited Kiev. The conflict with the Russians that started in January 2014 created much turmoil and unrest.

The conflict not only changed the political landscape, it hampered efforts to advance Ukraine’s effort to give their people a better health system including the development of hospice and palliative care services. One of the reasons for my visit back to Ukraine.

Most every organization wants to grow!! But not all organization do (or are not willing to do) what is necessary to grow!! Where does your organization stand?? Do you know what the “signs and symptoms” are in your organization that lead to a culture that does not support growth?? Every organization has them. In this post we will focus on hospice companies but the solutions suggested here apply to all.

It’s a topic most people don’t want to think about, especially when they’re young, vibrant and feeling invincible. Eventually, though, it’s something we must all give thought to: our needs and the needs of our loved ones as we get older – or worse, suffer a debilitating condition.

More specifically, what will happen to a loved one when taking care of him becomes too much for the primary caregiver? Will he be moved to a nursing home or other long-term care facility, or might he be able to stay in the comfort of his own home?

The people we care for are usually in their senior years. Knowing the things that make people feel old can be valuable especially as you work with Independent and Assisted Living Communities. Knowing what things that can make people feel old can help you and your staff bring more value to the people you work with and who refer to you.

While death, taxes and aging are facts, the notion of aging as an uncontrollable, unstoppable force may, in fact, be faulty.