Hospice of Tift Area

Hospice of Tift Area

Annual Report

Fiscal Year 2000

(October 1, 1999-September 30, 2000)

I. Statistics and Cost Analysis for FY ’00

See Appendix (A)

II. Patient Satisfaction Surveys

See Appendix (B)

III. Special service to patients and families

A.In December 1999 Hospice of Tift Area again promoted the Angel Tree, whereby family members of patients who died during the previous year were encouraged to bring an angel ornament for the tree in memory of their loved one. The event was improved from past years by having a luncheon, allowing families to reminisce with staff members. Approximately 18 families participated.

B.In FY ’00 $2541.83 was spent on patient quality of life needs (i.e. utility bills, installation of handrails, wheelchair ramps) from Hospice of Tift Area Foundation funds. An additional $36,652.50 was spent on the provision of sitter services for hospice families, most of which came from the proceeds of the Golf Marathon.

Numerous donated items (plants and flowers, food items, gift baskets, etc.) were distributed to patients and families by hospice staff. Donated items included:

Gardenia Garden Club -- live plants

Florist shops Mildred’s and Michael’s – cut flowers from large floral arrangements (which were separated into smaller bouquets)

First Baptist Church – gift baskets

Mount Zion Baptist Church – food items/toiletries for needy families

Tift General Hospital – food items donated by staff members for holiday gift baskets for all hospice patients/families

D.Annual Memorial Service -- Held at the First Presbyterian Church in Tifton on April 16, 2000, approximately 105 family members, staff and volunteers were present for our annual memorial service celebrating the lives of hospice patients who died in the previous twelve months. Candles were lit in memory of each patient during a necrology reading. A reception followed in the fellowship hall.

IV. Special Events

A.Bereavement Teleconference -- On April 26, 2000, Hospice of Tift Area once again participated in the Hospice Foundation of America’s Annual Bereavement Teleconference. This year’s conference was entitled “Living With Grief: Children, Adolescents, and Loss.” Held at the RDC, 26 people were in attendance.

B. Volunteer Appreciation Banquet – Held at the Tift General Hospital Dining Room during National Volunteer Week (April 11, 2000), 56 people enjoyed entertainment provided by Marlene Bowen. Hospice Volunteers were recognized and thanked for their dedication and service to Hospice of Tift Area.

V. Interaction with the Medical Community

National Hospice Month-November 1999

During National Hospice Month, Hospice of Tift Area sponsored two of the four Community Lecture Series speakers. Presentations were made by Sue V. Moore, a Music Thanatologist, and by Dr. Sandra Hayman, who shared her caregiving experiences in her lecture “Caring for the Elderly.”
Hospice of Tift Area donated books and videos on grief and bereavement to the Tift County Public Library, and displayed information about hospice in the lobby of the library for Hospice Month.
Audiotapes on grief and bereavement issues, including communication techniques for use with seriously ill persons and their families, were provided to the local Ministerial Association.
Hospice hosted both a physician breakfast and a luncheon for office managers during Hospice Month. Both provided opportunity for interaction/dialog between hospice staff and medical professionals.

B.Interdepartmental Involvement/Integration with TGH- Participation on:

Ethics Committee

Cancer Committee

Tumor Conference

Relay for Life Committee

Quality Relations Committee

Pain Management Committee
Participation in New Employee Orientation

C.Contracts-Hospice of Tift Area reviewed many of our contracts in FY ’00.

Pharmacy contracts-In addition to using the TGH pharmacy, Hospice utilizes local pharmacies for the convenience of our patients and families. Following is a list of contracted pharmacies and their locations:

Medical Arts Pharmacy (Adel)
Rite Aid (Adel)
Raines Pharmacy (Ashburn)
R & M Drugs (Ashburn)
Rite Aid (Ashburn)
Wal-Mart (Douglas)
Wal-Mart (Fitzgerald)
Wal-Mart (Moultrie)
Berrien Health Center (Nashville)
Rite Aid (Nashville)
Bennett’s Pharmacy (Ocilla)
Rite Aid (Ocilla)
Omega Pharmacy (Omega)
Cox-Ewing (Tifton)
CVS Pharmacy (Tifton)
Guy’s Drugs (Tifton)
Rinns (Buena Vista)--Supplies pharmaceuticals to Tift Health Care residents

Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Contracts-- Hospice of Tift Area also contracts with the following DME companies:

Family Home Care, Inc.
Medicare Rental Supply, Inc.

Nursing Home Contracts – Hospice of Tift Area contracts with several area Nursing Homes as well:

Tift Health Care
Beverly Healthcare
Fitzgerald Nursing Home

4. Certified Nursing Assistant Services-- When the Hospice of Tift Area Certified Nursing Assistant has a full patient load, services are provided via our contract with American Home Health Services, Inc. (CareOne). Inservices for all CareOne CNAs were given by Hospice of Tift Area nurses in June of 2000.

5. Medical Director-Volunteer medical director Dr. Randall Lanier renewed his contract with Hospice of Tift Area in FY 2000.

6. Consulting Physician Agreements-The following physicians/physician groups signed or resigned consulting physician agreements during FY ’00:

South Georgia Medicine-Don Roberts

Georgia Sports Medicine-James Scott, William Smith and Robert Tuten

Affinity Health Group

Dr. James Milner

Dr. Wesley Walker

Contracts with the following consulting physicians remained in effect through FY ’00:

Radiation Oncology Associates-Charles Mendenhall and Mark McCollough

Tifton Urology-Greg Anderson and Jeffry Peters

Tifton Surgical Clinic-William Davis, Joel Johnson, James Kirkpatrick, Charles Mann, and David McEachin

Phoebe Cancer Center Physicians have declined to sign consulting physician agreements with Hospice of Tift Area due to “legal issues.” They understand that they cannot bill Medicare for consulting physician services and have agreed in writing that they will not bill Hospice of Tift Area for consulting physician services.

VI. Community Education, Services, Support and Involvement

A.Grief Support Series -- During FY ‘00, HOTA offered several 4-week Grief Support Sessions were offered to anyone suffering from the loss of a loved one.

B.American Cancer Society -- Hospice of Tift Area participated in the Relay for Life by participating in a team combining Hospice and Radiation/Oncology Services.

C. United Wayof Tiftarea, Inc. -- Hospice of Tift Area was a United Way member agency once again in 2000. United Way volunteers from Target and BB&T Bank assisted hospice patients and families by doing yard work (mowing, trimming shrubs, etc.) on the United Way Day of Caring in late summer of 2000.

D.National Hospice Month-Community projects during National Hospice Month (November 1999) included sponsorship of two of Tift General Hospital’s community lecture series, provision of materials to the local library and to the ministerial association, and hosting “meet and eat” events for local physicians and their office managers.

VII. Hospice Foundation

Fundraising

Hospice held a Golf Marathon in April 2000, which yielded $26,470.00.

FY ’00 Memorials and Donations to Hospice of Tift Area raised $15,182.64.

Sale of Hospice of Tift Area Cookbooks raised $727.00 in FY ’00.

The 1999 Tree of Life generated $10,027.85.

VIII. Personnel issues

Staff Education -- All Hospice of Tift Area staff attended all mandatory educational inservices at TGH. Additionally, hospice staff took advantage of a variety of other educational opportunities including conferences sponsored by the Georgia Hospice Organization, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the South Georgia Association of Social Workers, and many others. Hospice staff are also required to attend at least four of the volunteer inservices offered each year.

B.Volunteer Training, Inservices, Assignments and Activities

1. A total of 33 volunteers served 75 patients and their families in FY ’00. (For each patient that requests a volunteer, at least one is assigned to him/her.)

2. Volunteer Training -- Held in February of 2000. Seven volunteers completed hospice volunteer training.

The following inservices were provided during FY ’00 for hospice volunteers and staff (volunteers and staff are required to attend at least 4 inservices and/or activities per year):

Motivational Tips for Volunteers
Care and Comfort at the Bedside of the Dying
My Turn: Caring for Aging Parents and Other Elderly Loved Ones
Therapeutic Massage and Relaxation Techniques
Care Net at Valdosta State University – Family Dynamics
Infection Control
Music as Comfort Care
How Assisted Living Facilities Can Benefit Hospice Patients
Living With Grief: Children, Adolescents and Loss
Self Defense
In the Beginning: A Look at How Hospice of Tift Area Came to Be

4. The following volunteer activities occurred in FY ’00:

Covered Dish Dinner at Leroy Rogers Center
Participation in the Christmas Parade
Christmas Caroling to Patients/Annual Volunteer Christmas Party
Annual Memorial Service – First Presbyterian Church
Volunteer Appreciation Banquet

Also, during National Hospice Month (November 1999) Hospice of Tift Area recognized its volunteers by placing signs in each volunteer’s yard.

C.Staff Achievement

In FY 2000, Kristine Weldin, RN successfully met the requirements to receive her Certification in Hospice and Palliative care (CHPN).

Staffing

Volunteer Coordinator, Susan Ruter, resigned in July 2000. The position remained unfilled for the remainder of the year.
Patient care nurse Debra Brown, RN came on board in November 1999, filling a position that had been vacant since May of that year. However, she transferred to the Ashburn clinic in February of 2000.
Patient care nurse Bernadette Owens, RN resigned in June of 2000.
Patient care nurse Renee Norton, RN transferred in from TGH to join the hospice team in April of 2000, filling the position left vacant by Debra Brown’s transfer.
Patient care nurse Suzie Wood, RN started work with us in September of 2000, bringing us back to a full staff of nurses.
Social worker, Jackie Jackson, LMSW, resigned in August of 2000, and Dale Elzie, LMSW, Oncology Social Worker, began seeing hospice patients in the interim.
Director, Kerry Leeper Brock, LMSW, resigned in July of 2000. That position remained vacant for the rest of the fiscal year.
Rev. Earl Steffens joined the hospice team as our Volunteer Chaplain in Fiscal Year 2000, filling a void that had been left after our loss of Rev. Larry Layfield at the end of FY ’99.

IX. Involvement on State and National Level

Memberships-Hospice of Tift Area continues to be an active member of the Georgia Hospice Organization (GHO) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).

B.Georgia Hospice Organization Board of Directors-Hospice of Tift Area continued to serve on the GHO Board in FY ’00.

X. Performance Improvement

A. Family Satisfaction Surveys -- Family Satisfaction Surveys continued to be discussed on a regular basis in Staff Meetings after staff review individually and sign off. (See Appendix B)

B. ORYX -- Hospice of Tift Area chose to participate in a new national benchmarking and statistical effort (ORYX) in FY 2000. The summary of this first year’s data will be available for review in the 2001 Annual Report.

XI. Policy and procedures

All policies and procedures specific to Hospice of Tift Area were reviewed in FY ’00.

XII. Licensure and Accreditation

A.State Licensure-An unannounced inspection from the from the Georgia Department of Human Resources-Office of Regulatory Services-Health Care Section-Specialized Care Unit occurred on August 30-September 1, 1999. The inspectors noted four deficiencies. All corrections were made by October 31, 1999.