DENTON — Compass Regional Hospice, which offers individuals, families and the community “Care on your terms” through comprehensive, professional and compassionate end-of-life care and grief support, serving Queen Anne’s, Kent and Caroline counties, will be ramping up its fundraising presence in Caroline County.
Since 2014, when Compass Regional Hospice received the certificate of need for Caroline County, Compass has had the opportunity to serve 2,576 Caroline County residents through home care and has served 111 patients at the Caroline Hospice Home in Denton since it reopened fall 2015. Compass Regional Hospice serves the majority of its patients in Caroline County in their homes or in Caroline County nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
The decision to ramp up fundraising within Caroline County comes after Compass Regional Hospice received a letter dated June 15, in which Caroline Hospice Foundation, the current fundraising arm for hospice services in Caroline County, indicated it was electing to terminate its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Compass Regional Hospice, due to a lack of funding.
Guerieri said the Caroline Hospice Foundation, as part of its MOU with Compass Regional Hospice, has been the sole fundraising entity for hospice services in Caroline County, and it maintained daily operations at the Caroline Hospice Home, 613 S. 5th Ave., Denton, and the three patient rooms Compass Regional Hospice staffed there. Compass Regional Hospice, as the only licensed hospice provider in Caroline County, entered into an agreement in 2015 to provide hospice care to the families served at the Caroline Hospice Home, which effectively helped to reopen the home following its closing in 2012.
Guerieri said, as of July 15, Compass Regional Hospice no longer will be able to provide hospice care to patients at the Caroline Hospice Home but will continue to offer in-home care to the residents of Caroline County.
“Our first priority is to the well-being of our patients, and we are working with Caroline Hospice Foundation to maintain the continuity of care for those patients who currently are in the Caroline Hospice Home,” Guerieri said. “Going forward, any Caroline County resident who requires placement in one of Compass Regional Hospice’s facilities will have the option to receive care in our residential hospice centers in Centreville or Chestertown. Beginning this fall, we will be expanding our Centreville Hospice Center from six to 10 beds, enabling us to better serve Queen Anne’s, Kent and Caroline counties.”
Guerieri stressed Compass Regional Hospice will continue to provide home hospice care to the residents of Caroline County.
“There is a significant cost to Compass Regional Hospice to provide hospice services to the patients of Caroline County,” she said. “As such, and consistent with nonprofit hospice services throughout Maryland, there needs to be a productive fundraising component to help supplement the cost of services.”
Currently, Compass Regional Hospice effectively fundraises in Queen Anne’s and Kent counties to cover the cost of providing services to patients in those counties. Compass Regional Hospice takes care of infants and children, as well as adults in need of its programs, and patients are never turned away based on an inability to pay for services. Because of this, Guerieri said there is a $1.4 million funding gap between what the organization receives in service payments and the actual cost of care provided.
“We are required to fundraise one third of our budget in each county. Looking ahead, we will be ramping up our presence and our fundraising efforts in Caroline County,” Guerieri said. “Again, we remain committed to Caroline County. You are not losing a hospice care provider, you are gaining, as Compass Regional Hospice now will be able to fundraise to effectively support offering hospice care and grief services in Caroline County, and we look forward to spending more face-to-face time within the community.”
In addition to hospice patient care, Compass Regional Hospice also runs grief support programs in Caroline County, including kindergarten through grade 12 counseling for Caroline County students who have experienced loss and who need help processing that loss. Since 2014, Compass Regional Hospice’s counselors have helped 258 Caroline County residents, including children and adults.
Guerieri said she and the Compass Regional Hospice staff look forward to exploring new partnerships and ways of providing hospice care and grief support services in Caroline County. And when the time is right, Compass Regional Hospice hopes to open a new facility to provide a medical alternative for patients who want the security of medical care around the clock in a home-like setting. Until then, Guerieri said nothing will change in Caroline County regarding the level of care the community has come to know and expect.
“We will continue to foster relationships in Caroline County that enable us to provide the quality of hospice care the community has come to know and expect from Compass Regional Hospice. You will not be seeing less of us, you will be seeing more of us, and we remain committed to you,” Guerieri said to the community.
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~ Compass Regional Hospice – Care on your terms
Compass Regional Hospice is a fully licensed, independent, community-based nonprofit organization certified by Medicare and the state of Maryland and accredited by the Joint Commission. Since 1985, Compass Regional Hospice has been dedicated to supporting people of all ages through the challenge of living with a life-limiting illness and learning to live following the death of a loved one. Today, the organization is a regional provider of hospice care and grief support in Queen Anne’s, Kent and Caroline counties. “Care on your terms” is the promise that guides staff and volunteers as they care for patients in private residences, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and the residential hospice centers in Centreville and Chestertown. Grief support services are offered to children, adults and families of patients who died under hospice care, as well as members of the community who are grieving the loss of a loved one, through The Hope and Healing Center. For more information about Compass Regional Hospice, visit compassregionalhospice.org.