ConnectionsPlus Healthcare + Hospice

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

By now, the Rockbridge Area Hospice tag-line rolls off of most people’s tongues without a second thought. But what does “neighbors helping neighbors” really mean? To our organization, it means that our team knows our community, lives in our community and loves our community. Our roots are local We are celebrating our 35th anniversary of providing end-of-life care in the Rockbridge County area. In that time span we have grown from 1 volunteer RN serving 1 patient near Goshen to a staff of 27 professionals and 55 consistent volunteers serving over 300 residents of Lexington, Buena Vista and Rockbridge County this past year. We know this area, we know the people, we know how to provide them with quality care. Our expert staff is local Over half of our direct care team hold specialty credentials in end-of-life care. Most of our staff were born here, grew up here, and/or raised families here. All of us call this area home. We live in the neighborhoods throughout the county. We relate to the families we work with, and often find we know them through some small-town connections. Our board is local Rockbridge Area Hospice is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. These dedicated community members call this area home, and many have generational ties to Rockbridge County. The entire Board meets six times a year, and each member is engaged on one or two of several very active committees. The Board supports the organization and our staff in many ways and extends our ability to connect with our neighbors. Our response is local Having local staff means availability 24/7. Patients, families and health care providers can reach our staff any time. When an in-person visit is needed, our staff is generally able to be there within minutes, no matter what time of day or night it is. We know the back-roads and where the cell phone signals fade in and out. Our partnerships are local Our patients benefit from our partnership with local healthcare providers. We rely on Lexington Prescription Center, who provides quick home delivery of medications and equipment. We have an excellent working relationship with our local hospital, which is available to our patients for respite care or brief inpatient stays if needed. We serve many patients in local nursing homes and assisted living facilities who benefit from our support for residents who are approaching end-of-life. At Rockbridge Area Hospice, we believe that our local presence allows us to focus on quality in a way that is above and beyond typical care. When faced with situations that are a bit out of the ordinary, our discussions within our team and with our community partners focus on ‘is this the right thing to do for this person?’ If the answer is yes, we figure out how to make it happen. Our Interdisciplinary Care Teams are concentrated into a North team and a South team, each consisting of two Registered Nurses, a Care Coordinator and a Certified Nursing Aide. Other team members, including a Spiritual Counselor/Chaplain, Intake & Admissions Specialists and Bereavement Counselors, float between the two teams as specialized help is needed so that all of our patients and their families get the individualized care they deserve. This approach facilitates close communication and allows the teams to really get to know the patients and the communities they live in. In the past few years, other organizations based in Staunton or Roanoke have offered hospice services in the Rockbridge area. This gives people options to choose from. We want to be the top choice, and we are. According to Medicare’s Hospice Compare website, our “family experience of care” ranks far above other hospice organizations who come into our area, as well as the national average. Here at Rockbridge Area Hospice, we are very proud of this, and we hope you are too. Rockbridge Area Hospice – We are neighbors helping neighbors.