As a newly appointed board member of the national Hospice Action Network, Nathan Adelson Hospice’s Carole Fisher is already getting the word out to legislators on Capitol Hill about the importance of hospice care.
Fisher, who serves as president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Nathan Adelson Hospice, has been an advocate for the hospice industry and conveying the effects policy issues under consideration have in Nevada. The recent trip to Capitol Hill was dubbed “Advocacy Intensive” and was sponsored by the Hospice Action Network, a division of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
“Our intent in meeting with U.S. leaders in Washington D.C. was to educate them about hospice from the heart,” Fisher said in a statement. “Having these honest, candid conversations with them will help pave the way to a broader knowledge and support needed in our industry.”
Fisher was joined on the trip by Nathan Adelson Hospice nurses Michael Kemp and Kathleen Bergevin. They met with Sen. Dean Heller, Rep. Joe Heck and health legislative assistants for Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley.
The Hospice Action Network’s Inaugural Advocacy Intensive involved more than 175 hospice social workers, nurses, chaplains, aides and clinicians who met with more than 250 Congressional offices on June 19. Among the topics shared with the nation’s leaders were: What is hospice care and who receives it; margins and Medicare expenditures; levels of care; and locations of care. The hospice representatives also noted that in 2009, an estimated 1.56 million patients received hospice services. The NHPCO also estimates that 41.6 percent of all deaths in the United States were under the care of a hospice program.
“It’s nice for Nevada to have a presence as we band together with other national hospice advocates to encourage Congress to learn about and protect access to compassionate and high-quality end-of-life care for all Americans,” Fisher said.
