Each November the national hospice community honors the millions of nurses, home care aides, therapists, social workers, and volunteers who make a remarkable difference for the patients and families they serve. These heroic caregivers play a central role in our health care system and in homes across the nation. To recognize their efforts, we call upon all Americans to commemorate the power of caring, both at the home and in their local communities and join with Mt. Rose Health Center Palliative Care and Hospice by celebrating November as National Hospice Month.
Mt. Rose was founded in 2017 by Dr. Valerie Borsa to serve Las Animas and Huerfano Counties. Dr. Borsa saw the need for hometown hospice and palliative care that would meet the growing need for hospice services that provides comfort and dignity to local people, allowing them to spend their final months at home, surrounded by their loved ones. Hospices ensure that pain management, therapies, and treatments all support a plan of care that is centered on the person’s goals. This care also provides emotional support and advice to help family members become confident caregivers and adjust to the future with grief support for up to a year.
“It is essential that people understand that hospice and palliative care is not giving up, it is not the abandonment of care, and it is not reserved for the imminently dying,” said Edo Banach, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “Hospice is a successful model of person-centered care that brings hope, dignity and compassion when they are most needed. Hospice care is unique in that it offers an interdisciplinary team approach to treatment. Caring for the whole person allows the team to address each patient’s unique needs and challenges”. Incorporating volunteers into the provision of this individualized care is a critical component of hospice services.
For more information on hospice and palliative care or volunteer opportunities please contact Mt. Rose Health Center Palliative Care and Hospice at 719-846-8479
