DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR HOSPICE BENEFIT? - O ne of our biggest goals - North Country Home Health ...
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Staying
Connected
2020 Appeal
DO YOU KNOW
ABOUT YOUR
HOSPICE BENEFIT?
O
ne of our biggest goals
over the past year has been
to make our community
aware of the hospice benefit. Most
insurances, including Medicare,
Medicaid and private insurances,
have a hospice benefit that pays for
end-of-life expenses with no cost to
the patient or family. This benefit
covers the cost of medications,
medical equipment and supplies,
clinician visits, volunteer and spiritual
services, and respite. If you or your
loved one has a terminal illness
you are no longer seeking curative
treatment for, you may qualify for
the hospice benefit. Please reach
out to us at 603.444.5317 for more
information. We are here for you.
nchhha.org | 603.444.5317
BOARD OF Dear community friends,
DIRECTORS Creating and maintaining unity is the success
story of North Country Home Health and
Hospice. Approximately three years ago, two
North Country home care and hospice agencies
Roxie Severance
were failing. The decision was made to combine
Board Chair
(Whitefield) the two into one organization, so Northwoods
Home Health and Hospice was incorporated
Chrissy Smith into the North Country Home Health and Hospice Agency (NCHHHA).
Secretary
(Littleton) The revived agency joined the North Country Healthcare System. Initially, the most
important thing the board of directors and senior staff did was to guide staff toward a
Pat Kelly
unified vision and strategy for success. This decision to create unity set the foundation
Treasurer
(Groveton) for our most important goal: to improve the quality of life for North Country residents
needing home care and hospice services. In addition, the unified financial support of
Mell Brooks all the North Country hospitals has enabled this agency to succeed.
(Littleton)
“My purpose is to be, Being part of North Country Healthcare
Brian O’Hearn is important as it provides a network to
(Gorham) in my action, just and
help us better serve our community. While
constitutional; and yet there is now one less hospital in that
John Starr
(Bethlehem) practical, in performing system, NCHHHA remains committed
to maintaining unity and will continue to
the important duty, with
Koren Superchi work with all North Country hospitals
(Landaff ) which I am charged, of and physicians/providers to ensure the
Gail Tomlinson
maintaining the unity, and delivery of the high quality of care that
the community expects. North Country
(Landaff ) the free principles of our Healthcare and Littleton Regional Hospital
Thomas Mee common country.” will work together in unison to help
President ABRAHAM LINCOLN maintain the sustainability of NCHHHA.
North Country Healthcare The financial storms we weathered in
Ex Officio the past have subsided. Our success now and in the future will be a result of
maintaining a unified approach to the delivery of home care and hospice services to
Michael Counter
residents throughout the North Country towns that we serve.
President
North Country Home Health
& Hospice Agency I invite you to be part of our continued success by joining me in donating to
Ex Officio NCHHHA’s annual appeal.
Roxie Severance
Chair, Board of Directors
2020 appeal
NORTH COUNTRY HOME HEALTH & HOSPICE AGENCY
Hello friends,
FROM THE THE
Looking back on the holidays, I am reminded of how grateful I am to work
with such a dedicated group of home health and hospice professionals.
These special people are here to care for you, your family, your friends and
neighbors day and night in the setting of your choice, wherever you call
home. We are here to help you get well after a surgery or hospitalization,
to help you remain independent in your home and, with utmost reverence,
to help hospice patients transition through their final chapter with comfort
and dignity. In 2019, the agency reached many milestones. Thanks to you
and the generous community support we received, we have become a much
more financially sustainable agency than we were a few years ago. Further,
and more importantly, the quality of care as measured by Medicare has
dramatically improved due to increased training hours for all staff,
up 20% in 2019, with increased certifications for nurses in advanced wound
“We are here to help you care, homecare case management, and in hospice and palliative care.
get well after a surgery
Looking ahead, these investments in staff will be even more important
or hospitalization, to help as our primary payer source, Medicare, completely revamps its quality
you remain independent and reimbursement models, and a new electronic medical record system
is implemented for North Country Healthcare (of which we are a part).
in your home and, with These are exciting times for home health and hospice as population
utmost reverence, to health really takes hold in the North Country. We are prepared for
these challenges and, with your generous support, we look forward to a
help hospice patients
successful 2020.
transition through
their final chapter with Sincerely,
comfort and dignity.” Visits by Program
Mike Counter
President & CEO 30,216 HOME HEALTH
16,208 HOSPICE
7,000 LONG-TERM CARE
2019 STATISTICS
(Percentages are rounded to the nearest percent.)
Revenue $8,302,820 Expenses $7,480,680
94% INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT & PRIVATE PAY 64% PERSONNEL & BENEFITS
$7,771,059 $4,816,526
2% GRANTS & INVESTMENTS 2% DEPRECIATION & INTEREST
$181,052 $124,118
4% COMMUNITY SUPPORT 34% OTHER
$350,709 $2,540,036
nchhha.org | 603.444.5317
Our Hospice Program
more, from holistic therapies as they
do from pharmaceutical management.
Our staff ’s engagement in our
hospice program inspires me every day.
available to offer our Over the past year, we’ve had seven
nursing staff real-time staff members receive their Hospice
education, which is and Palliative Care certification,
invaluable. We have which speaks to their dedication to
seen our quality our patients. Quality care will always
measures improve be important to us as an agency.
with the addition of I strongly believe our community
the practitioners. We deserves a well-rounded hospice
track how many visits program that goes above and beyond
we provide patients in for their patients. Thank you for
the last week of life, allowing us to care for your loved ones
which is often the and be apart of such a pivotal moment
most difficult week of in your family’s story.
their time with us on
Tiffany Haynes-Hicks, MSN hospice. We recognize PROGRAM HELPS BEREAVED
Director of Hospice
the importance of THROUGH GRIEVING PROCESS
wrapping patients
Our hospice program has grown in and families in services so they feel
not only size but quality over the past supported. I am proud to report that for
year. Our focus has been on increasing the past 12 months, we rank above the
accessibility, diversifying our team and state and national average in regards to
saturating our staff with educational how many visits we provide in the last
experiences. Last year we hired three days of life.
Lindsey Foss, PA, and Kevin Botelho, We have expanded our program
APRN. Their contributions to our to include holistic interventions this
program have continually surpassed year, which has allowed us to achieve This fall, NCHHHA offered
our expectations. Our patients benefit a deeper sense of healing for our three free Grief Group series led by
from their ability to assess them in patients. We have a volunteer and a our social workers in several of our
their home, in a timely manner, and spiritual counselor who are Certified communities—Colebrook, Berlin and
prescribe medications from the home End of Life Doulas. Our intentions Littleton. The seven-week curriculum
with our new mobile application. are to help support patients and is designed to help the bereaved explore
Symptoms including pain, nausea, families using different modalities to grief and loss, discuss feelings related to
anxiety and restlessness are being treat not only the physical being, but grief, and address stress management,
addressed by a practitioner within 24 their spiritual and emotional being, healing and self-care. Please call us for
hours of onset. This allows patients to as well. We now offer complementary more information and the dates and
rest more comfortably and families to therapies such as aromatherapy, music locations of the next round in the Grief
feel much more supported by the team, therapy, massage/reiki, and pet therapy Group series.
knowing this level of care is available to our patients. We find that some
24/7. Lindsey and Kevin have also been patients benefit just as much, if not
2020 appeal
NORTH COUNTRY HOME HEALTH & HOSPICE AGENCY
LIFE TO THE FULLEST
H
elping hospice patients live well is
very important to our team. When
a patient is admitted into hospice
services we often ask them, “What is most
important to you?” and “Is there anything
you would like to accomplish?” Many of our
patients express the wish to spend as much
time with family as possible. Some express a
desire to visit a restaurant they love but can
no longer access due to physical limitations.
Others wish to write letters to their family
members, complete coin collections or take a
trip to the beach with their family. We have
been fortunate enough to assist patients with
some of these wishes and we are happy to help
them achieve their goals. One of our patients
this year had a deep desire to spend some time
with horses. Our team was able to arrange
for him to spend the day at the Omni Mount
Washington Resort, visit the horses in the
stable, brush them and drive the horse-drawn
carriage. This was a wonderful experience for
our patient, his wife and our team! We were
so thankful to help him experience something
Richard Wood of Littleton, NH
that brought him so much joy.
Annual Butterfly Release
“A butterfly to remind me that even though we are apart,
your spirit is always with me, forever in my heart.”
JOIN US September 12, 2020 in Littleton, NH, or September 19, 2020 in Berlin, NH, as we
release monarch butterflies and honor the life of those we have lost. For more information on
how to purchase a butterfly or for event details, please visit nchhha.org or call 603.444.8324.
nchhha.org | 603.444.5317
Serving the Community
A Commitment to Excellence from a Dedicated Staff
Our staff actively Of course, our clinical staff would
participates in not be as successful without the
education sessions dedicated staff that keeps the schedules
that help build their flowing, medical records accessible and
skill sets and creates a referrals processed. These individuals
peer-to-peer learning work tirelessly to process referrals and
culture that fosters complete documentation so that this
growth. The nursing information is available to the clinicians
staff has participated in the field. These unsung heroes
in advanced in- actively participate in clinical operations
home infusion and and provide priceless feedback to the
wound care trainings. clinical management.
Nurse Andrea Lastly, we continue to work alongside
Turner received her all area healthcare facilities to provide
national Wound Care quality care to all citizens of Coös
certification this spring and northern Grafton counties. We
and is bringing wound are proud of our associations with all
At North Country Home Health care in the home setting to the next levels of the healthcare communities,
and Hospice Agency, we value the level. Nurse Kristi Pinard designed and including nursing homes and private-
people that we serve. This includes not is running a research study regarding duty organizations. There is no better
just patients, but their families, loved wound care treatments that may help gift to give to our neighbors than the gift
ones and the community at large. We develop best practice standards for of collaborative caring.
strive every day to go from good to home-based wound care of the future.
great and beyond. Our nursing assistant staff MEMORY BEARS
We expect to be ranked a 4.5 Star participated in rehabilitation and
(out of 5) agency by Medicare in the wound care training that provides
October, 2019 reporting period. This another level of treatment that simply
is a significant jump from our 2 Star makes our care better.
ranking from just a couple of years ago. In our commitment to excellence, we
This would not have been possible believe in exemplary communication
without the extreme dedication of standards. The clinicians are provided
our clinical staff, which is made up with real-time data that help them In 2019, our volunteers created 497
of physical, occupational and speech know where their strengths are and
memory bears and had over 500
therapists, registered nurses, licensed where there are opportunities for
hospice home visits. We are always
practical nurses, licensed nursing growth. Our nurse management team
assistants and homemakers. provides constant support to help keep looking for volunteers to join our
everyone moving towards excellence. mission. Please contact Maryanne
2020 appeal
at 603.444.8324 to learn more.
NORTH COUNTRY HOME HEALTH & HOSPICE AGENCY
Physician Assistant Discovered
Hospice is the Missing Link in Health Care
her patients at classes at a private pre K–6 elementary
NCHHHA navigate school in Lancaster.
end-of-life issues. “I wasn’t looking for work in
The Lunenburg, VT, hospice, but when I joined the team
native received both at North Country Home Health and
her undergraduate Hospice, I realized that hospice care
and graduate degrees was the missing link in health care,”
(Bachelor of Health she says. “Typically in medicine we
Science, Entry Level are taught to find a cure, and are not
Master Physician taught how to support patients at the
Assistant Program end of their lives.”
in 2006 and Master She sees both sides of patient care in
of Health Science, her current positions. “I treat and care
Physician Assistant for children and adults in my family
Lindsey Foss, PA
in 2008) from medicine practice, and with hospice I
Quinnipiac University can help them make the right choices
in Connecticut. for themselves at the end of their lives,
When Lindsey Foss, PA, was an In her first job as a physician based on their needs and concerns.”
undergraduate on her way to earning assistant in thoracic surgery at a One of the things she loves most
her degree as a physician assistant, she Boston hospital, she often thought about hospice care is making strong
worked part-time as a homemaker for that the medical team should be connections with the patients and
Home Health and Hospice during providing additional support to their families. “I meet them where
her summer vacations and Christmas patients beyond the surgery that was they are and see how our team can
holidays, with never an inkling that performed, but “I knew nothing about help. Everyone is so different, with
she would return to the agency years hospice at the time,” she says. varying diagnoses, family members
later as a physician assistant. Following the births of her son and and personalities. It’s gratifying to
“At the time, I enjoyed getting to daughter, she worked on a per diem know we can help them during this
know the patients and I thought the basis and, in 2018, with her youngest difficult time.”
nurses were awesome as they had to starting school, she interviewed for
adjust to different situations each a position that involved both family
day and solve a variety of problems,” medicine and hospice care. Today,
she says. Fast-forward some 15 years she is employed two days per week at
or so, and today Lindsey uses her NCHHHA in hospice care, two days
compassion, knowledge and skills as per week at Weeks Medical Center in
a physician assistant and member family medicine, and one day per week
of the hospice care team to help teaching health and physical education
nchhha.org | 603.444.5317
536 Cottage Street
Littleton, NH 03561
TERRITORY NORTH COUNTRY
HOME HEALTH & HOSPICE
Thank you AGENCY SERVES
COÖS COUNTY
NORTH COUNTRY HOME 301,908 miles
HEALTH & HOSPICE AGENCY DRIVEN BY NORTH COUNTRY
would like to thank the communities, HOME HEALTH & HOSPICE AGENCY
businesses and residents of Coös and CAREGIVERS.
northern Grafton counties for their
continued financial support of our
organization. Without your assistance,
we would not be able to provide the
necessary extensive care to our region. NORTHERN
GRAFTON COUNTY
TO OUR PATIENTS AND LOVED
ONES OF THE PATIENTS WHO
WE HAVE LOST, we offer our deepest
gratitude for allowing us to be part
of your lives. Our goal of providing
a healing environment in whatever
capacity is a very profound and
vulnerable request, and we could not
do it without your trust in us.
2020 appeal
N O R T H C O U N T R Y H O M E H E A LT H & H O S P I C E A G E N C Y
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