Program areas at See SCH of Disclosure
Hospice homecare established in 1979, Community Hospice & palliative care is an innovative national leader in palliative and Hospice care, providing programs and services to meet the diverse needs of the communities it serves. During its 45-year history, the jacksonville, florida-based nonprofit organization has served approximately 153,468 adults and children in baker, clay, duval, nassau, and st. johns counties, as well as 11 counties in north central Florida. During fiscal year 2023, the organization helped 9,746 patients and their families live better with advanced illness through Hospice care and support programs. Most of this care is provided in the home setting, including private residences, nursing homes, and assisted living communities. Community Hospice & palliative care ensures patients' comfort by addressing their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs through interdisciplinary clinical care teams, whose members make up more than half of the organization's 821 employees, along with the services of approximately 754 volunteers. The organization also assists family caregivers through education, access to Community resources, and bereavement support for up to 13 months after a loss. A dedicated, interdisciplinary team of professionals works with patients to help manage the pain and symptoms associated with a life-limiting illness and provides personal, respectful care and assistance. The organization helps educate patients and their caregivers about the illness they have, what to expect as the illness progresses, and about medicines and therapies to help manage patient comfort. On-call services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In fiscal year 2023, our homecare teams provided 452,087 routine days of care.
Palliative care established in 2010, Community palliative consultants provides palliative consultative services through fifteen local hospitals. At the request of the patient's attending physician, specially trained physicians, and advanced practice registered nurses (aprns) take the time to understand each individual situation and then recommend options to meet the patient's personal goals of care. Community palliative consultants also provides education and training of hospital/facility staff. Palliative care provides an extra layer of support for patients and their families through a multidisciplinary team focused on providing relief from the symptoms, pain, and stress associated with a serious illness or complex chronic condition. In fiscal year 2023, our palliative care team saw 6,100 patients.
Hospice inpatient care inpatient care, if needed, is available in one of our ten inpatient centers, called centers for caring. These facilities are available for patients who need pain and symptom management at an acute level unavailable in a homecare setting. The patient stays until his/her condition and symptoms are stabilized, typically three to five days or less. Our facilities offer homelike surroundings with gardens and serene settings. In fiscal year 2023, our staff provided 21,229 days of general inpatient care (gip).
Specialized care for children since 2000, Community Hospice & palliative care has provided palliative and Hospice care and support for children living with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions through Community pedscare, an award-winning pediatric care program in collaboration with wolfson children's hospital, nemours children's specialty care and the university of florida-jacksonville. The program, one of only a few communities' pediatric programs in the united states offering both palliative and Hospice care, provides clinical, social service, spiritual, child life, medical and volunteer support to improve quality of life for children from prenatal to age 21. To date, the program has served nearly 2,400 patients, while serving 353 patients, and their families in fiscal year 2023. Advance care planning honoring choices Florida is a Community collaborative advance care planning initiative of Community Hospice & palliative care. The program launched in 2014 and is based on a model from respecting choices, a pioneering acp program implementing throughout the united states, canada and many countries in europe and asia. Honoring choices Florida is designed to sustain an integrated, community-wide system to ensure patients' future health care preferences are discussed, documented, and honored. The program engages individuals through health care facilities and community-based venues through a specialized advance care planning document and offers trained facilitators to guide individuals and families through the process of discussing and documenting their health care wishes. Bereavement services and Community grief support Community Hospice & palliative care offers a variety of grief and loss support services for those who have experienced the death of a loved one. These services provide support or guidance for dealing with loss and sorrow. Services are available not only to survivors of patients in our Hospice care program but to anyone in the Community who requests them. Services include bereavement support groups held at many locations, understanding grief (a program for the newly bereaved), an annual candlelight service of remembrance, grief camp for kids (camp healing powers) and a program to cope with grief during the holiday season (november and december). Hospice patients' family members may also receive individual and family counseling (including children and teens). We send letters to the bereaved during the year after the death, these include helpful hints and invitations to our support activities. In fiscal year 2023, 9,545 were provided grief services through programs, support groups, counseling, educational letters and other informational services. Outreach to family caregivers and military/veteran communities the Community Hospice veterans partnership (chvp) raises awareness as well as funds for pins and flags to honor veterans in the care of Community Hospice & palliative care, a we honor veterans level iii provider. In fiscal year 2023, Community Hospice & palliative care provided Hospice services to 1,606 veterans from all branches of services throughout the organization's 16-county region.volunteersthe nearly 754 Community Hospice & palliative care volunteers are vital members of our team. Whether offering companionship and a listening ear to patients and family members, helping with clerical work at one of our office locations, assisting at fundraising events or greeting guests at one of our front desk locations, there's a volunteer opportunity for everyone. Foundation the Community Hospice & palliative care foundation is dedicated to enabling Community Hospice & palliative care to fulfill its mission and vision. Funds raised through the foundation enhance the quality of life for patients and families and support unfunded and under-funded patient care, outreach programs, and services for those facing advanced illness and grief. Donor support provides Community programs and compassionate care to all who need it, regardless of ability to pay.