Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Your dollars make a difference for hospice care

You may have heard about Riverwood’s annual Hospice Charity Event and Golf Tournament. This event is about more than good golf, great food and chances to win some fabulous prizes. The dollars raised provide valuable support for hospice care, which you or a loved may need one day.

Hospice care seeks to make a patient’s final days as comfortable as possible. It allows patients to spend their last days with dignity and greater quality of life, surrounded by loved ones.

Riverwood Healthcare Center offers this compassionate care in partnership with Cuyuna Regional Medical Center through HomeHealth Partnership’s (HHP) Hospice program. Services are offered to these patients in three nursing homes or at home where a team of interdisciplinary professionals manages their care. From doctors and nurses to home healthcare aids and counselors, HHP provides complete physical, emotional and mental support to the patient and their family. This care is family-centered with both the patient and family members participating in decision making.

As a testament to hospice, Larry Beresford summarizes the care his loved one received, “While hospice is care for the dying, it places a special emphasis on life and living each day as fully as possible.”

In 2009, HHP provided these services to over 60 individuals and their families in Aitkin and Crow Wing County. Due to restrictions imposed by private and public insurance programs, hospice care is not fully covered. On average, for every dollar billed, HHP receives only 43 cents.

To fill this gap in reimbursement, Riverwood Foundation holds an annual Hospice Charity Event. The money raised is used to cover such items as pain medication, educational grief materials and one-on-one counseling support—all services that are not covered by private insurance and Medicare.

Last year, the event raised over $23,000. We have filled out the scramble golf tournament for 2010 but if you don’t golf or just want to support the cause, join us for dinner for only $50. More of a hands-on person? Sign up as a volunteer. We are also still accepting cash donations and items for our live and silent auctions.

Call Roland at (218) 232-5486 to sign up today. Or visit Riverwoodhealthcare.com/foundation and click on the “events” tab to get registered by the July 6 deadline.