For Immediate Release:
February 9, 2021 

 Hospice Action Network Honors 2021 Congressional Champions

NHPCO advocacy affiliate recognizes members of Congress who have supported hospice 

(Alexandria, Va) – The Hospice Action Network (HAN), the advocacy affiliate of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2021 Hospice Action Network Angel Award. This award was created to recognize select members of Congress who serve hospice and palliative care patients and their families through their efforts to support the vital mission of hospice and palliative care. These honorees use their platform to amplify the voices of patients facing a serious or life-limiting illness and their families. 

The award recipients are as follows: 

• • • Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) 
    • Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL-16) 
    • Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) 
    • Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) 
    • Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) 

• • • Representative Steven Horsford (D-NV-04) 
    • Representative Joe Morelle (D-NY-25) 
    • Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20) 
    • Representative Tom Reed (R-NY-23) 
    • Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) 

• • • Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA-01) 
    • Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA-05) 

The honorees expressed their appreciation for the recognition.  

“I was raised by my maternal grandparents and later served as my grandmother’s primary caregiver as she grew older, which is why hospice and palliative care are extremely personal to me,” Senator Tammy Baldwin said. “I’m proud to have worked across party lines to advocate for this critical care being made more accessible for Americans. I will continue to be a voice for patients and their families and remain committed to working to grow and support our palliative and hospice health care workforce which provides quality of care for the growing number of patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses.” 

“My family personally experienced the care and compassion provided by hospice. This is why I am proud to support hospice providers in Wyoming and across our nation. I am honored to receive this award and will continue working to improve hospice access for American patients and their families,” Senator John Barrasso said. 

“People in the final stages of life should have access to the compassionate care that hospice and palliative care provide. As someone who cared for aging parents and experienced firsthand what it is like to have a family member receive hospice care, I have been and continue to be committed to making sure this critical service is available in all communities, including rural areas,” Senator Shelley Moore Capito said. “I also know the incredible strain that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have on this type of care, which is why I have introduced legislation to ensure patients have access to more time with loved ones throughout the pandemic, and fought to delay Medicare payment cuts that would be detrimental to our home health, hospice, health center, and durable medical equipment suppliers. I’m honored to be selected as one of HAN’s Angel Awardees again this year, and I am so grateful for the work HAN, NHPCO, and all the hospice and palliative caregivers do on behalf of people across West Virginia.” 

“I have long worked to advance bipartisan solutions that expand the public’s access to palliative and end-of-life care. These services provide patients facing serious illness and their families with the high-quality care and comfort they deserve. Thank you to the NHPCO for this award and their work on behalf of the American people,” Senator Deb Fischer said.      

“When I was nine weeks old, my grandmother suffered a debilitating stroke that left her reliant on nursing care for the rest of her life. I know the difference that palliative care makes, and I will always fight to make sure patients have the high-quality care they need and deserve,” Representative Steven Horsford said. “I’m honored to receive the 2021 Hospice Action Network Angel Award, and I look forward to working with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization to continue to advocate for all patients and families.” 

“Our nation is suffering a collective and overwhelming grief as a result of this pandemic,” Representative Joe Morelle said. “Hospice and palliative care providers have been there supporting patients and their families through their darkest hours—bringing them light, and peace. I am humbled and honored by this award, and I remain committed to working alongside NHPCO to continue supporting patients going forward.”  

“The facilities that serve hospice and palliative care patients and their family members, and employ caregivers and administrative staff, should always meet high standards of quality, safety, and transparency,” Representative Jimmy Panetta said. “That’s why I worked closely with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization to introduce and pass the Hospice Act, which was signed into law in 2020. Although I greatly appreciate this recognition for my work on that legislation, the grassroots advocacy and bipartisan collaboration was the foundation for this law that will ensure accountability for the safety and wellbeing of hospice caregivers and those in their care.” 

“We will always be an advocate for hospice care and the quality care and support they give to families and their loved ones. At the end of my mother’s life, I witnessed firsthand the compassion of hospice care professionals and was inspired to become a hospice volunteer as my way of saying thank you. We are honored that Hospice Action Network has chosen to recognize us for our work and we commend them in their efforts to expand access to hospice care here in America,” Representative Tom Reed said. 

“It’s an honor to be recognized by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization for my work to provide seniors in Nevada and across the country better access to comprehensive health services, including hospice and palliative care,” Senator Jacky Rosen said. “I will continue to lead on this issue and look forward to partnering with the nation’s hospice and palliative care providers to make sure that America’s seniors receive the best care possible.” 

“Our hospice and palliative care workers take incredible care of their patients and their families. They provide kindness and compassion during an exceedingly difficult time. I am honored to be recognized by the Hospice Action Network and will continue to fight for Americans facing serious or life-limiting illness in Congress,” Representative Steve Scalise said. 

“I am honored to receive the 2021 Hospice Action Network Angel Award from the Hospice Action Network,” Representative Mike Thompson said. “As a member of the Ways and Means Committee, I have worked to pass legislation that provides security and dignity to hospice and palliative care patients. My wife, Janet, is a former hospice nurse and I know well the difficulties that families experience with loved ones facing serious and terminal illness. I am committed to continuing these efforts to support these patients and the brave health care heroes who care for them.” 

HAN and NHPCO are proud to recognize these lawmakers. 

“We are thankful to these members of Congress for their leadership and support of hospice and palliative care patients and their families who rely on person- and family-centered, interdisciplinary care during their greatest time of need,” said Edo Banach, President and CEO of NHPCO and HAN. 

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Contact:
Jon Radulovic
Communications Director
Ph: 571-412-3973 

About HAN
NHPCO and the Hospice Action Network work closely together to make an impact. NHPCO sets the public policy agenda through its Legislative Affairs Committee. The Hospice Action Network implements the agenda through direct lobbying, grassroots advocacy, and by empowering Hospice Advocates to share their hospice story with Congress. HAN’s mission is to advocate, with one voice, for policies that ensure the best care for patients and families facing serious illness and the end of life. 

For Immediate Release:
January 28, 2021

NHPCO Launches Innovative Quality Connections Program
for Hospice and Palliative Care Providers

A new, national program designed to support the delivery of high-quality care 

(Alexandria, Va) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is proud to launch Quality Connections (QC), a new program designed to enhance the knowledge base, skills, and competency of hospice and palliative care professionals and providers. Through education, tools, resources, and opportunities for engagement and interaction, QC participants will achieve and sustain continuous quality improvement.

QC is a benefit of NHPCO provider membership. For organizations that already have an established quality improvement program, Quality Connections can build on and streamline what they already have in place. If a provider needs to enrich their quality improvement efforts, Quality Connections will provide the guidance and resources they need.

“NHPCO’s Quality Connections provides a framework for providers’ quality assessment and performance improvement activities, to ensure high quality care to the people who need us,” said Lori Bishop, NHPCO Vice President of Palliative and Advanced Care. “NHPCO is committed to helping our members provide the best care possible to patients and their loved ones. Continuous quality improvement is key.”

QC is structured around four fundamental pillars which are represented by four QC rings:

• • • Education
    • Application
    • Measurement
    • Innovation

Each pillar has specific activities incorporating practical resources to progressively track and improve both clinical and organizational quality. Activities such as quarterly data reporting and benchmarking, NHPCO’s E-Online courses, peer case studies, and engagement will be part of an organization’s quality journey. Additionally, within each of the four pillars of the Quality Connections program, members will find activities that are focused on promoting diversity, access and inclusion within your organization and with the communities you serve.

“A provider active in NHPCO’s Quality Connections will gain an edge with partners and payers by demonstrating their commitment to high quality care and receiving national recognition from NHPCO,” said NHPCO President and CEO Edo Banach. “And by sharing best practices with each other and promoting equity in access to care, participating organizations will lift up the entire field, making health care better for patients and families across the country.”

Download the Quality Connections FAQ for answers to some basic questions about the program.

NHPCO provider members can enroll in QC on the NHPCO website. Follow the steps in the Quality Connections User Guide to enroll in the program and to start your quality improvement journey.

“We’ve made the right thing to do, the easy thing to do,” added Banach.

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Contact:
Jon Radulovic
NHPCO Communications
Direct: 517-412-3973

For Immediate Release:
January 21, 2021

The Need to Grieve: How Grief and Bereavement Care in the U.S. Needs to be Retooled

NHPCO and SWHPN Applaud the COVID Memorial Ceremony that Gave America an Opportunity to Grieve as a Nation but Ongoing Support will be Critical for National Healing

(Alexandria, Va) – The nation’s attention turned to healing on the evening of January 19, 2021 at the Memorial and Nationwide Tribute to Remember and Honor the Lives Lost to COVID-19 at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the Social Work Hospice and Palliative Care Network (SWHPN) applaud this powerful event that allowed the nation to publicly grieve together. By lighting candles around the Reflecting Pool, this first-ever event highlighted the need to honor the memories of Americans who have died from COVID, and help their families and friends grieve these losses.

NHPCO and SWHPN offer insight regarding the way bereavement support in the U.S. can be made more accessible to those struggling with loss and grief and issue a call for organizations to join the list of organizations in support of a National Grief Strategy.

“One of the most profound lasting effects from the coronavirus pandemic will be its impact on how we experience grief,” said NHPCO President and CEO Edo Banach. “The significance of loss in our lives is something hospice and palliative care professionals know well.”

The magnitude of the losses feels even greater now during the pandemic for several reasons. For those who have lost a family member, friend, or colleague to COVID-19, in addition to grieving the actual death, there may also be the loss of not being able to be physically present during the dying process. Many people who know someone is dying have anticipatory grief. For others, there has been the loss of financial stability, or loss of the feeling of physical safety. People are missing the normalcy of human contact. Rituals and milestones like funerals, graduations, and weddings have been postponed or eliminated altogether. We are grieving the loss of the life we knew before the virus.

For frontline health care workers, these changes are compounded by some of the most challenging work of their lives. In addition to dealing with limited access to necessary medical and personal protective equipment, and vaccine access, health care workers are managing massive volumes of sick patients, many who are seriously ill, and are learning how to use technology that connects families to those that are isolated and dying, when they would typically be trying to offer a more human connection.

Saying goodbye to someone who is dying can be challenging and has been made measurably worse by the pandemic. Travel restrictions and facility lockdowns have forced people to remain physically separated. Comfort is now provided through facemasks or technology. COVID-19 has denied family members of those in intensive care, nursing homes, and other congregate care facilities the ability to sit at the bedside, stripping away these cherished final moments. Being present in this manner and completing rituals around death are important to the grieving process. Complicated grief and unresolved issues at death can cast a long shadow over those who survive.

“With over 400,000 dead in the United States alone from COVID-19, we are all grieving together, but we are grieving in a country that doesn’t often talk about death or grief,” said SWHPN Executive Director Jessica Strong. “It is time we change that, time we talk about and build a better understanding of grief, so we can all help each other through this difficult time.”

Grief literacy encompasses the idea that if individuals know more about what grief looks and feels like, we can support each other through the most difficult aspects of grief.  By creating a culture of awareness and support around grief, Americans can help each other prevent many of the negative long-term health outcomes associated with grief that goes unaddressed.

Humans are inherently drawn to community. We are not meant to face difficult times alone; we need the support of others who understand. This is why hospices frequently offer bereavement support within their communities beyond people with family members who have received hospice care. We are well positioned to provide this kind of support as we move through this pandemic together. We can work together to create a National Grief Strategy, building compassionate communities that support each other.

Call for National Grief Strategy

Additionally, health care leaders and policy makers must engage in a national conversation toward addressing the new and compounded forms of grief that are emerging because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  We have an opportunity to address this crisis by mobilizing resources and education to assist people in navigating the grief that lies ahead, and in studying the effects of such a collective experience. Please add your name to the growing list of people and organizations that support a National Grief Strategy.

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Edo Banach, JD is President and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) based in Alexandria, Virginia.

Jessica Strong is Executive Director of the Social Work Hospice and Palliative Care Network (SWHPN) based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Contact:
Jon Radulovic
NHPCO Communications
Ph: 571-412-3973

For Immediate Release:
January 19, 2020

Priorities include prioritizing COVID-19 relief, innovating on how serious-illness care is provided and improving access to high-quality hospice and palliative care.

(Alexandria, Va) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) sent a letter to President-elect Joseph Biden, highlighting the hospice and palliative care priorities NHPCO wishes the new Administration to address. The letter outlines a set of priority recommendations that NHPCO urges the Biden Administration to implement during their first 100 days in office as they require immediate attention:

1. 1. 1. Protect Patients and Families
         Hospice providers are front line health care workers who are increasingly being exposed to COVID-19. Hospice workers, hospice patients and their caregivers should be prioritized for receiving COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as they are available, and providers should be a priority in FEMA PPE distribution and testing. NHPCO also calls for extended regulatory flexibilities, paused audits, and expanded economic support and funding for bereavement care to ensure hospice providers can continue offering high quality care during the pandemic.
      2. Innovate How Serious Illness Care is Provided
         COVID-19 has shined a spotlight on the “holes” in care for seriously ill individuals and their families. Innovative approaches are needed to provide the “right care at the right time” for patients with serious illness and their families.To that end, NHPCO supports concurrent care with hospice, the creation of a community-based palliative care benefit, and expansion of advance care planning. NHPCO also asked that the Biden Administration halt implementation of the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (MA VBID) Model by at least one year to allow technical and operational issues to be addressed.  Hospice patients and their families deserve a demonstration that improves access to high quality care at the end of life.
      3. Improve Access to Hospice and Palliative Care
         To help more Americans access the person-centered care offered by hospice, NHPCO is working to reduce racial disparities in access and strengthen the hospice and palliative care workforce. NHPCO also encourages the removal of the six-month prognosis barrier to hospice and increasing hospice access in rural and underserved areas.

“The incoming Biden Administration has a golden opportunity to impact in the lives of the most vulnerable Americans. Hospice and palliative care providers, patients, and their caregivers deserve now more than ever the attention of federal policy makers to support people on the front lines of this global pandemic. We look forward to partnering with this administration on day one to move important policy changes from powerful ideas into immediate and effective actions,” said NHPCO President and CEO Edo Banach.

Download NHPCO’s Letter and NHPCO’s 2021 Policy Priorities.

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Media Contact:
Jon Radulovic
NHPCO Communications
Ph: 571-412-3973

Thoughts on Events in D.C.

January 7, 2021

I want to share a message with you all following the events of yesterday in Washington, DC.  NHPCO’s offices are only a few miles from the grounds of the Capitol building, a global symbol of our nation’s democracy. First, we are all safe.  Some of our staff live within the shadow of the U.S. Capitol, and yesterday’s events hit close to home.  Many of us watched with incredulity the events unfold in real time on television and via social media.

This should not be a partisan time, as much as a time that cuts to the core of what it means to be a democratic republic. What it means to be America.  Our democracy is integral to the fabric of this great nation. We have wide-ranging differences, but we are able to discuss and debate civilly as one nation. Free speech and the ability to gather in peaceful protest is afforded to us by the U.S. Constitution. Many nations across the globe do not have that freedom. We should celebrate that.  However, what happened yesterday in Washington, DC was not a peaceful protest but violence directed at the heart of our nation. It is important that we call it what it is.

Every year, many of our members – you and your colleagues – gather in the nation’s capital to walk the halls of Congress and meet with our legislators to advocate for the work that we as hospice and palliative care providers do to bring compassion and dignity to many people in communities of every kind. And many of us actively engage with our elected officials from our homes and offices to make our voices heard. The opportunity to be an integral part of America’s democracy is a privilege that we do not take for granted.

It was reassuring to see our elected officials gather back into the chambers of the U.S. Capitol yesterday evening to continue their work. It is also reassuring, and a good reminder of what the U.S. stands for, to go back to our founding document.  Let me share the preamble to the Constitution with you:

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America.”

Some might question why yesterday’s actions are important to us. Yes, I know that we are hospice and palliative care professionals and advocates, but we are also people first.  As we continue to recover from so many challenges that presented themselves in 2020, we must continue to explore the ways that we can work together to improve and care for our nation using the skills at which we excel. As the nation’s best example of person-centered, interdisciplinary care, I think we can help show how we can work together with people that have different beliefs or backgrounds. We have lots of healing to do as a nation. We know something about that as well.

So onward, hospice and palliative care community.  Let’s keep leading, let’s not lose hope, and let’s move forward, together, for the good of the people we serve. I continue to be proud of the work you are doing every day and I feel honored to be working on your behalf.

Regards,
Edo Banach

For Immediate Release:
January 4, 2021

NHPCO Welcomes New Board Members in 2021

New Chair and Vice-Chair Lead the Executive Committee

(Alexandria, Va) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is proud to welcome five new members to the organization’s board of directors and two individuals  returning for a second term. The full NHPCO board will meet for its first meeting of the year on January 27, 2021.

Joining the NHPCO board of directors for three-year terms are:

• • • Philip Chuang – Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA
    • Honey Goodman – Treasure Valley Hospice, Nampa, ID
    • Corina Tracy – Compassus, Brentwood, TN
    • Terri Warren – Providence St. Joseph Health, Tukwila, WA
    • Tracy Wood – Hospice of Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN

Returning for a second term are:

• • • Samira Beckwith – Hope Healthcare, Fort Myers, FL
      
    • Balu Natarajan – Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care, Rosemont, IL

Executive Committee
The NHPCO board of directors 2021 executive committee is comprised of:

• • • Norman McRae, Chair – Caris HealthCare, Knoxville, TN
    • Melinda Gruber, Vice-Chair – Caring Circle, St. Joseph, MI
    • Edo Banach, President and CEO – NHPCO, Alexandria, VA
    • Elizabeth Fowler, Secretary – Bluegrass Care Navigators, Lexington, KY
    • Brian Jones, Treasurer – SHARE Foundation, El Dorado, AR
    • Balu Natarajan, At-large – Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care, Rosemont, IL
    • Tarrah Lowry, At-large – Sangre De Cristo Hospice & Palliative Care, Pueblo, CO
    • David Totaro, HAN Representative – BAYADA Home Health Care, Philadelphia, PA

Greg Wood, of Hospice of the Ozarks, will serve in an ex officio capacity as immediate past-chair.

Appreciation goes out to Reggie Bodnar of Carroll Hospice and Sandy Kuhlman of Hospice Care, Inc. who both concluded their terms on the NHPCO board at the end of 2020.

“NHPCO thanks all the new and existing board members for their dedicated service on behalf of our nation’s hospice and palliative care provider community as well as the millions of patients and family caregivers that benefit from the care that our diverse membership provides,” said NHPCO President and CEO Edo Banach. “Our board members come from programs that vary in size, structure, and service area and represent that wide range of organizations across the country that share our common goal of leading person- and family-centered care.”

A full list of NHPCO’s board of directors is available in the “About NHPCO” section of the organization’s website.

To learn more about hospice and palliative care, visit NHPCO’s CaringInfo.org website.

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Contact:
Jon Radulovic
NHPCO Communications
Ph: 571-412-3973