Hospice Care Center at Saint Joseph Hospital celebrates 25th anniversary

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ/Press Release) – Bluegrass Care Navigators is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Hospice Care Center at Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington on Aug. 5. Since 1996, patients and their families have benefited from this dedicated hospital space for hospice care.

The care center provides a comforting place for patients and families when symptoms cannot be controlled in the home, or the family needs specialized nursing care for a loved one that they are unable to provide at home.  The center enables families to remain involved in the patient’s care while benefiting from the full-time nursing and physician services available in a hospital setting.

“Our partnership with Bluegrass Care Navigators brings high-quality care to patients and families who need hospice in the inpatient setting,” said John Brothers, Division Vice President of Mission Integration for CHI Saint Joseph Health. “We are proud to have a hospice care center with holistic services in a comforting and peaceful environment inside Saint Joseph Hospital.”

The hospice care center at Saint Joseph hospital features 12 private patient suites with specially-trained staff and volunteers who carry out a patient-focused plan of care developed by the hospice team, including the patient, family and attending physician. In addition to nursing and medical care, both patients and families receive emotional and spiritual support from Bluegrass Care Navigator social workers and chaplains.

Inpatient hospice care made a difference for Peg and Gordon Munson and their daughter, Donna, in 2005. 

“I had never had a hospice experience before this, and I could not believe all that the hospice team does and provides to the patients and family members,” Peg reflected. “They really got our entire family through a very difficult time.  It brings tears to my eyes to remember the care that was given to us.”

Bluegrass Care Navigators will mark this milestone of caring for Kentuckians at Saint Joseph Hospital with a celebration for team members who work in the care center and with partners across the hospital.

“We are humbled as we consider the thousands of patients and families who have been cared for in the hospice care center since 1996,” said Stephanie Greene, Chief Hospice Officer for Bluegrass Care Navigators. “It is an honor to provide this service and resource for our Central Kentucky community.”

For more information, call 855-492-0812 or visit www.bgcarenav.org.