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Niagara Hospice and Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center collaborate

by jmaloni

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Fri, Jan 24th 2014 03:20 pm

Niagara Hospice and Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center have announced a new collaboration that will provide a dedicated hospice unit in eastern Niagara County. The newly renovated unit located at Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in Lockport will be named Rebekah's Pathway.

Hospice is a way of caring for patients with end-of-life illnesses and supporting their family and loved ones. Niagara Hospice is a not-for-profit organization that serves nearly 155 patients per day. The organization has been providing end-of-life care since 1988, and is the only hospice provider in Niagara County. Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center is also a nonprofit facility, sponsored by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, that provides long-term care and rehabilitation services as well as respite care.

"We have had a positive working relationship with Niagara Hospice for a number of years, and both organizations have a strong sense of pride and a desire to honor our similar values," Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center CEO/Administrator Eugene Urban said. "We believe that health care is local, and it is our responsibility to provide our community with the best possible quality of care; and to deliver that care with the utmost respect, compassion and dignity."

Rebekah's Pathway has nine dedicated beds for residents in need of hospice care. The unit consists of one private room and four double rooms, a lounge area for residents and family members, a hospitality room for visiting family, and a beautifully landscaped and furnished outdoor courtyard. Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center staff have completed specialized training (with the Niagara Hospice multidisciplinary team) that addresses the special needs of residents nearing end of life.

In addition to the individualized care received from the Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center staff, Niagara Hospice complements that care by providing additional staff, resources and services to the residents and their families. Each resident in the hospice program has an individual plan of care developed to meet physical, spiritual and psychosocial needs, as well as maximize quality of life.

Niagara Hospice President and CEO John Lomeo said, "The addition of Rebekah's Pathway fills a need in the eastern end of the county for our most seriously ill residents. By concentrating hospice services in one location, we are able to ensure the gold standard of care for every patient, every family, every time. These individuals deserve our best, and together we accomplish that mission."

Additional benefits of the collaboration include reduced hospitalizations and fewer emergency room visits.

"Our primary goals are to increase and improve efficiency, clinical practices, compliance with new regulations and, most significantly, to provide the best quality of service to our hospice residents and their families," Urban said.

Kay Dekker, vice president of hospice services at Niagara Hospice, said, "When a resident receiving hospice services passes, we do not close the door on the family. Family members have the benefit of bereavement services from Niagara Hospice for 13 months. These services are extended to the staff who often become very much like family to the residents they care for."

Seriously ill residents and their families are already benefitting from hospice services at Rebekah's Pathway while finishing touches are being completed. An official grand opening is scheduled for early February.

Hospice care is appropriate for individuals when the prognosis is approximately six months or less to live if the disease were to run its normal course. Many patients live beyond six months and can continue receiving hospice care by meeting criteria set by Medicare. For more information about Niagara Hospice, visit www.niagarahospice.org or call 716-439-4417. More information about Odd Fellow & Rebekah Rehabilitation & Health Care Center can be found at www.oddfellowrehab.org or by calling 716-434-6324.

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