Hope Hospice Recognized Nationally for Best Practices Programs

New Braunfels, TX, April 14, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Hope Hospice’s Volunteer and Bereavement Programs have been recommended by Community Health Accreditation Program, Inc., (CHAP) as Best Practices. Select hospices throughout the nation are given this recognition, which indicates hospice core services that exceed Medicare and CHAP quality standards and should be adopted by other hospices nationwide as the ideal prototype for their programs.

Hope’s Volunteers donated an astounding 17,253 hours to Hope’s patients and families in 2012. With 200 community members enrolled in the Volunteer Program, Hope invests extensive resources into recruiting, training and nurturing our volunteers. Hospice is the only Medicare funded program required to have volunteer support and each year Hope exceeds the Medicare minimum.

The Hope Hospice Bereavement Program has a long history of recognition. During the 1980s the community began to recognize the value of these services and request them outside of the hospice setting. In the 1990s Hope’s Board of Directors officially extended these services to all members of the communities we serve. In 2003, Hope piloted the Children’s Grief Program and hired its first counselor specializing in children’s grief in 2005. Also in 2005, Hope’s Director of Bereavement Services, Jane Marie Young, was recognized by the Texas-New Mexico Hospice Organization as Bereavement Counselor of the Year. National recognition of the Children’s Grief Program has grown ever since as Program Coordinator Kerry Menn has presented on its services at several national conferences.

This recognition from CHAP came with Hope’s recent successful completion of the biennial CHAP survey. All hospices must be certified by Medicare; because CHAP’s standards are higher than those of Medicare, CHAP has the authority to also grant Medicare certification. CHAP accreditation demonstrates that Hope Hospice meets the industry’s highest nationally recognized standards. Rigorous evaluation by CHAP focuses on structure and function, quality of services and products, human and financial resources and long term viability. Hope has held a deemed accreditation with CHAP for the last fifteen years.

“We are very pleased that Hope Hospice chose CHAP accreditation,” Terry A. Duncombe, CHAP president and CEO, said. “Voluntarily selecting to achieve CHAP accreditation and meeting our high standards of excellence demonstrates Hope Hospice’s commitment to quality. CHAP is delighted to work with their entire team through the ongoing process of quality improvement.”

Hope Hospice provides hospice care and bereavement services to patients and their families within a 60-mile radius of New Braunfels including Comal, Caldwell, Kendall, Hays, Blanco, Bexar, and Guadalupe counties.

CHAP is an independent, not-for-profit, accrediting body for community-based health care organizations. Created in 1965, CHAP was the first to recognize the need and value for accreditation in community-based care. CHAP is the oldest, national, community-based accrediting body with more than 5,000 agencies currently accredited nationwide. Through “deeming authority” granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), CHAP has the regulatory authority to survey agencies providing home health, hospice, and home medical equipment services, to determine if they meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation and CMS Quality Standards. CHAP’s purpose is to define and advance the highest standards of community-based care. Hope’s deemed status with CHAP indicates that not only does Hope continuously meet Medicare regulations, Hope exceeds them and holds themselves to a higher standard.

For more information about the CHAP accreditation process, please visit the CHAP website at www.chapinc.org. For additional information on CHAP, please contact Michael Grogan, Director of Business Development, at (202) 862-3413 or mgrogan@chapinc.org.

For additional information, contact Leslie Ferguson, Director of communications and development at Hope Hospice at 830-358-5224 or 830-237-3378.

Hope Hospice is the oldest operating not for profit hospice in the central Texas area between San Antonio and Austin. Hope offers patients the opportunity to take control of their care plan and together with their families make the most of their lives when facing the last months of a life-limiting illness. Patients and families are provided a full team of support including physicians, nurses, home health aides, social workers, chaplains and volunteers to manage pain and symptoms, connect families with available resources and offer emotional and spiritual support. Families are shown how to complete necessary care giving tasks and educated on what to do in a variety of common situations. This education gives them the confidence and skills to keep their loved one at home in the most comfortable setting possible.

Hope Hospice serves Comal, Guadalupe, Caldwell, Hays, Kendall, Blanco and northern Bexar counties. Bereavement services are available to families of Hope Hospice patients as well as our neighbors within our service area. Available services include individual and family counseling, support groups, memorial services and a Children’s Grief Program complete with family activities and camps throughout the year.

Hope Hospice is proud to have the support of over 200 volunteers. Volunteers serve in the areas of Bereavement programming, patient care, administration, Thrift Shop, and fundraising. Those who provide companionship visits to patients first complete a 9-week training program.