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Community Corner

Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice Earns Highest Recognition through National We Honor Veterans Program

Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice has been recognized with four-star status in the national We Honor Veterans program – one of only 4 hospices in New Jersey -- and one of 162 of 5300 hospices nationwide to earn this prestigious designation.

We Honor Veterans is an initiative of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Samaritan’s participation demonstrates its commitment to supporting veterans through serious illness and end of life and honoring their service to our nation.

The We Honor Veterans campaign (www.wehonorveterans.org ) awards tiered levels of recognition to organizations that demonstrate a pervasive commitment to improving care for veterans. Achieving the highest four-star status required that Samaritan implement ongoing training for staff and volunteers to support the special needs and challenges which veterans and their families may face at the end of life. The organization was also required to incorporate recommended “best-practice” protocols and procedures internally, and engage in community outreach and education with veterans, community organizations, healthcare providers, and local VA representatives and facilities.

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Earning the right to display the program’s four-star logo enables VA staff and veterans to easily identify Samaritan as a hospice that has made a commitment to veteran-centric care provided by a veteran-sensitive and highly expert staff.

“Samaritan is totally committed to providing our community’s veterans with the care and dignity they deserve,” said President/CEO Mary Ann Boccolini. “More than 1800 veterans across the country die each day – one in every four American deaths. These men and women sacrificed and risked their lives. They now turn to us to stand ready with the proper skills and the compassion to meet their special needs.”

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“The We Honor Veterans program has focused our efforts and our care for veterans coping with a life-limiting illness,” said Kim Rumaker, Samaritan Manager of Social Work, Bereavement and Spiritual Support, who co-chaired Samaritan’s We Honor Veterans initiative.  “We ask about their military service, combat experience or other traumatic events during, or after, their service and factor those experiences into the individualized care plan for each veteran. Our goal is always to foster respectful inquiry, compassionate listening and grateful recognition to help each veteran and his/her family find peace at the end of life.”

For more information, or to schedule a community presentation about Samaritan’s hospice, palliative and grief support services for veterans and their families, call 1-800-229-8183.

About Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice:
Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice is a not-for-profit, non-sectarian, independent organization accredited by The Joint Commission, a member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and its We Honor Veterans program created in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Samaritan is the regional leader for hospice care, palliative (comfort) medicine, geriatric care management, grief support and counseling and end-of-life education, research and advocacy. Samaritan serves people in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Mercer counties who are coping with the stresses of aging, serious illness or grief. For more information, visit www.SamaritanHealthcareNJ.org.

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