On our 44th Anniversary Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is proud to announce the branding of our four divisions, Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice, Karen Ann Quinlan Home for Hospice, the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center and Quinlan Palliative Care under the umbrella of Quinlan Care Concepts. Each division name remains the same. Quinlan Care Concepts more accurately reflects the spectrum of services we offer and our commitment to being end-of-life specialists in the communities that we serve. Our quality, compassion, and commitment to those we serve remains the same. Stay tuned for more updates from your local, not-for-profit, award-winning hospice since 1980!
The winning number for the 2024 Hospice Honors program booklet was 2284. If this number is in your journal please call Jennifer Smith at 973-383-0115 ext. 106.
NEWTON — There’s an important medical term that you may not have heard of: Palliative Care (pronounced PAH-LEE-UH-TIVE). “Palliate” means to make comfortable by treating a person’s symptoms resulting from a serious illness. Hospice is just one form of palliative care that many Americans have heard of.
Both hospice and palliative care focus on helping a person be comfortable by addressing issues causing physical or emotional pain, or suffering. Hospice and other palliative care providers have teams of people working together to provide care. The goals of palliative care are to improve the quality of a seriously ill person’s life and to support that person and their family during and after treatment.
For more than forty years, Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice has been caring for people at the end of life while hospice nationwide has served more than 1.5 million patients and their family caregivers each year.
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with a serious illness. This type of care is focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of the illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.
Palliative care is provided by a specially-trained team of doctors, nurses and other specialists who work together with a patient’s other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. Palliative care is based on the needs of the patient, not on the patient’s prognosis. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness, and it can be provided along with curative treatment.
Hospice focuses on relieving symptoms and supporting patients with a life expectancy of months not years. Palliative care may be given at any time during a person’s illness, from diagnosis on and is appropriate for any stage of a serious illness.
If you or a family member would like to learn more about Quinlan Palliative Care, please call 973-888-9100 a FREE consultation. You may also visit our website at https://www.quinlanpalliativecare.org.
Click here for a printable fact sheet. Click here for a Spanish printable fact sheet.
Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice can help you understand more about palliative care and hospice and determine what might be best for you or your loved one. Contact them at 800-882-1117 or visit their website www.karenannquinlanhospice.org.
Karen Ann Quinlan Memorial Foundation is passionately dedicated to providing hospice care for the terminally ill, bereavement for those who have lost loved ones palliative care for those seeking an extra layer of care while seeking curative treatment.
Serving North and Northwest NJ and the Pike County area PA; please call 800-882-1117 to reach any of our services. For programs, events, and more information visit www.karenannquinlanhospice.org.
Earlier today, an intimate group of hospice and palliative care leaders gathered in America’s town square, Times Square, NYC, to honor the life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter. President Carter reaches the six-month milestone on hospice this week and continues to enjoy time with his family and loved ones in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
Among those in attendance were several speakers: NHPCO COO and interim CEO, Ben Marcantonio; Susan Lloyd, CEO of Delaware Hospice; Jacqueline Lopez-Devine, Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) of Gentiva. NHPCO members are encouraged to write their own tributes to President Carter’s impact on the hospice and palliative care community using the hashtag #candlesforcarter. A recording of the event is available here.
All of the Hospice Honors 2023 event journals had a lucky number hidden in the book. The attendee with number 1349 is the recipient or two tickets to the 2023 Wine and Cheese Festival presented by the Friends of Hospice. The event will be held on Sunday, September 10 at the beautiful Water Wheel Farm in Fredon. To claim your tickets please contact Jennifer Smith at 973-383-0115. Congratulations.
Thank you to everyone, including the honorees, presenters and sponsors for making last night such a success. All proceeds from the event with benefit the Julia Quinlan Home for Hospice Endowment Fund.
Woody Hungarter, RN BSN, MS and President of Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice recently earned a End-of-Life Doula Certificate from The University of Vermont Professional and Continuing Education.
Earners of this designation are prepared to offer non-medical, compassionate care to those facing the end-of-life, complementing the support provided by hospice, palliative care, and each client’s natural network. They understand common terminal conditions and diseases, pain management practices, the active dying process, and helpful interventions to ease client suffering. Earners provide unconditional positive regard and nonjudgmental support while engaging in open dialog with clients.
EOL Doulas support clients with individualized, compassionate care in several ways, including emotional, spiritual, informational, and physical support, which greatly helps to lower stress levels, aid in comfort, and promote personalized, even positive, dying passages for clients and their loved ones.
We would like to congratulate Woody on this accomplishment.
More than a month ago the 39th president Jimmy Carter, 98, after a series of short hospital stays, decided to forgo further medical treatment and elected to “spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the Carter Center announced in a statement posted on Twitter. “He has the full support of his family and his medical team.”
Hospice provides support and comfort for people who need end-of-life care. Opting for hospice care is one of the most compassionate decisions you will ever make. You can receive hospice care in your own home, a residential facility, such as the Karen Ann Quinlan Home for Hospice in Fredon, or in assisted living centers, nursing homes and hospitals. Some patients receive care in the homes of friends or family.
According to the Hospice Foundation of America, a third of all Americans choose hospice care when they are dying. But hospice isn’t only for the dying. Loved ones also benefit from hospice care, as workers will support them through some of the most difficult moments in life.
What services are provided? The interdisciplinary hospice team: • Manages the patient’s pain and other symptoms • Assists the patient and family members with the emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of dying • Provides medications and medical equipment • Instructs the family on how to care for the patient • Provides grief support and counseling • Makes short-term inpatient care available when pain or symptoms become too difficult to manage at home, or the caregiver needs respite time • Delivers special services like speech and physical therapy when needed • Provides grief support and counseling to surviving family and friends Source: NHPCO Facts and Figures | 2022 EDITION
Here are some of the support services you can expect from Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice:
Every patient who receives hospice treatment must be qualified by a physician. All care is directed by your primary physician.
Nursing care and services are provided by or under the supervision of a registered nurse. At Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice our nursing staff is available to patients and families 24-hours a day.
Medical Social Service is provided by a qualified social worker under the director of a physician.
Our hospice Medical Director will oversee the general needs of the patient working in tandem with the attending physician which includes palliation and management of the terminal disease and related conditions.
Home Health Aides provide personal care services. Aides’ services are provided under the general supervision of a registered nurse.
Chaplain Services are available to provide/facilitate spiritual counseling.
Volunteer services are available to assist the patient/caregiver in any one of a multitude of ways from providing comfort and respite to the family, an avenue of socialization for the patient; assistance with shopping, etc. All volunteers have completed a Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice training course.
Bereavement Services are provided for 13 months following the patient’s death to family and significant others. Additionally, the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center holds bereavement and grief recovery support groups in all the communities served by Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice.
The staff at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is trained to offer peace of mind in addition to medical care. We hear it so many times, patients and families tell us: “We wish we’d called hospice sooner.” Patients and families can benefit most from hospice care when they seek support earlier rather than in a crisis. The best way to determine if you or your loved one could be helped by hospice is to call us at 800-882-1117. There is no cost and calling does not commit you or your loved one to hospice
What services are provided? The interdisciplinary hospice team: ▌ Manages the patient’s pain and other symptoms ▌ Assists the patient and family members with the emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of dying ▌ Provides medications and medical equipment ▌ Instructs the family on how to care for the patient ▌ Provides grief support and counseling ▌ Makes short-term inpatient care available when pain or symptoms become too difficult to manage at home, or the caregiver needs respite time ▌ Delivers special services like speech and physical therapy when needed ▌ Provides grief support and counseling to surviving family and friends
Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice a Level 5 – We Honor Veterans Partner is hosting a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Brown Bag Lunch on Thursday, March 30th at the VFW Post 5360 located on 85 Mill Street in Newton from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. The event is free and Veterans from all branches and service periods are invited to attend.
Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is a Level 5 – We Honor Veterans Partner. As one of two hospices in New Jersey with this designation Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice places a greater emphasis on staff education and caring for Vietnam-era and combat Veterans. Additionally, the Hospice acts a mentor to other WHV partners working to enhance their program. In this photo staff and hospice volunteers attend the annual Salute to Veterans Parade.
At the event special “welcome home” recognition and thanks will be given to Vietnam War Veterans. A representative from Quilts of Valor will be in attendance and all Veterans who have not received a quilt will be presented with one. There will also be musical entertainment by Omar who will perform songs from the 60s and 70s. Other businesses and community partners will be in on hand to participate in saying thank you and welcome home to our Veterans.
The Vietnam War was the longest war in which Americans ever fought. The first combat troops arrived in 1965 and fought the war until the cease-fire of January 1973. For many of the American Veterans of the war, the wounds of Vietnam will never heal.
Approximately 2,700,000 American men and women served in Vietnam, and it was the first time America failed to welcome its Veterans back as heroes. America’s Veterans have done everything asked of them in their mission to serve our country and it is never too late to give them a hero’s welcome home.
This “Welcome Home Lunch” is a simple act of gratitude to show appreciation and recognition for those Veterans who were never welcomed home or thanked for their service. The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, signed into law in 2017, designates March 29 of each year as National Vietnam War Veterans Day and most states celebrate “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” on March 29 or 30 of each year.
Those who plan on attending are asked to RSVP by either calling 973-383-0115 or by reserving online at www.karenannquinlanhospice.org/WelcomeHome. Again, there is no cost to attend, and all Veterans are welcome. Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is your local, not-for-profit, award-winning hospice serving the community since 1980. For more information on our services please call 973-383-0115.
In late February 2023, the Carter Center announced that former President Jimmy Carter had decided to stop receiving medical interventions and had transitioned into hospice care at home. The cause of Mr. Carter’s decline was not revealed, but the 39th president, who is 98, has been public about health issues he has faced in recent years, including melanoma — a skin cancer that spread to his brain and his liver — and numerous falls.
Take this quick quiz to see how much you know about hospice care and some the ways President Carter may be utilizing the service.
If you have more questions about eligibility please call us at 973-383-0115.
Former President Jimmy Carter is receiving hospice care at his home, the Carter Center announced Saturday. He made the decision after a series of short hospital stays, the center said in a statement.
The charity created by the 98-year-old former president said that Carter “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention.”
A growing number of caregivers are finding that the correct answer to the question is, “As early as possible,” as they discover all of the advantages hospice has to offer the patient as well as the caregiver.
Special needs require the services of specialists. Hospice professionals are specialists in end-of-life care, and should be called upon during the first stages of a terminal illness.
Six Months or Less to Live
A person of any age is eligible for hospice after being certified by a physician as having a life expectancy that may be six months or less, depending on the course of the disease. If a patient lives beyond six months after admission they can continue to receive services as long as a physician continues to document the patient’s eligibility.
Hospice services are covered by Medicaid and many types of insurance, although many not-for-profit hospices generally provide services regardless of the person’s ability to pay.
Making the Most of the Final Stages of Life
Hospice care enables the individual and their families to experience the final stage of life together, in the setting most comfortable for them. In most cases, the person remains at home, close to family and friends while under professional medical supervision. Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice, like many hospices around the country, assigns a care team to each hospice patient. The hospice interdisciplinary team may include a physician; nurse; social worker; bereavement counselor; chaplain; and volunteers. Each team member is focused on the person, not the illness, making sure that all physical, emotional and spiritual needs are met.
Pain Management
Hospice has a unique approach to pain management – another advantage of entering hospice care earlier. The care team always works to manage the patient’s pain as expediently and efficiently as possible. Addressing pain and other symptoms in their early stages, rather than waiting until they become severe, is a priority.
In addition to determining the appropriate medications for pain and other symptoms, members of the care team identify the best ways to administer the medication to the satisfaction of the individual patient.
Karen Ann Quinlan Memorial Foundation is pleased to announce that Irena Booth, MPH, BSN, RN has joined our team as Clinical Director.
Irena has over 25 years of experience in Adult and Pediatric Oncology and Hospice. Most recently, Irena was the Nurse Manager at RWJ Barnabas Health – Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, a 673-bed regional care, teaching hospital that provides comprehensive health care services to local communities throughout the northern New Jersey metropolitan area.
Prior to her tenure as Nurse Manager, Irena held the positions of Interventional Radiology RN and Assistant Manager in the Oncology Unit at Saint Barnabas Medical Center – RWJ Barnabas Health, New Jersey’s oldest and nonprofit, nonsectarian hospital.
Additionally, before joining the RWJ Barnabas Health team, Irena held the position of Hospice Team Manager at MJHS a large not-for-profit health system in the Greater New York area. MJHS’s range of health services include home care, hospice and palliative care for adults and children, rehabilitation and nursing care and the research based MJHS Institute for Innovation and Palliative Care.
Many of Irena’s roles have been in leadership, focusing on a transformational approach and building relationships. Irena has extensive knowledge in clinical operations, regulatory compliance, Hospice, Palliative Care and Acute care.
In her spare time, Irena is an avid reader and aspiring baker.
We are so excited to welcome Irena to our team!
Irena Booth, MPH, BSN, RN Clinical Director, Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice
Hospice provides support and comfort for people who need end-of-life care. Opting for hospice care is one of the most compassionate decisions you will ever make. You can receive hospice care in your own home, a residential facility, such as the Karen Ann Quinlan Home for Hospice in Fredon, or in assisted living centers, nursing homes and hospitals. Some patients receive care in the homes of friends or family.
According to the Hospice Foundation of America, a third of all Americans choose hospice care when they are dying. But hospice isn’t only for the dying. Loved ones also benefit from hospice care, as workers will support them through some of the most difficult moments in life.
Here are some of the support services you can expect from Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice:
Every patient who receives hospice treatment must be qualified by a physician. All care is directed by your primary physician.
Nursing care and services are provided by or under the supervision of a registered nurse. At Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice our nursing staff is available to patients and families 24-hours a day.
Medical Social Service is provided by a qualified social worker under the director of a physician.
Our hospice Medical Director will oversee the general needs of the patient working in tandem with the attending physician which includes palliation and management of the terminal disease and related conditions.
Home Health Aides provide personal care services. Aides’ services are provided under the general supervision of a registered nurse.
Chaplain Services are available to provide/facilitate spiritual counseling.
Volunteer services are available to assist the patient/caregiver in any one of a multitude of ways from providing comfort and respite to the family, an avenue of socialization for the patient; assistance with shopping, etc. All volunteers have completed a Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice training course.
Bereavement Services are provided for 13 months following the patient’s death to family and significant others. Additionally, the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center holds bereavement and grief recovery support groups in all the communities served by Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice.
The staff at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is trained to offer peace of mind in addition to medical care. We hear it so many times, patients and families tell us: “We wish we’d called hospice sooner.” Patients and families can benefit most from hospice care when they seek support earlier rather than in a crisis.
The best way to determine if you or your loved one could be helped by hospice is to call us at 800-882-1117. There is no cost and calling does not commit you or your loved one to hospice care. Perhaps there are other resources in the community that could be of help to you; our social workers or nursing team will help guide you.
Myths are common in hospice, for both patients and physicians. Breaking through the myths helps ensure each conversation about hospice is accurate and productive. We are always available at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice to talk to you or a loved one regarding appropriateness for Hospice and how it works.
Myth: Hospice is only appropriate for the last few days of a terminal illness. Truth: Hospice’s goals are symptom management and quality of life. If a patient’s health status is in continual decline, he or she likely qualifies for hospice care. Sooner is better when it’s time for Hospice. The sooner you make the decision the sooner we here at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice can help you and your family with our multi-disciplinary team which includes: doctor, nurses, aides, volunteers, chaplains, social workers and bereavement counselors.
Myth: A patient cannot leave hospice. Truth: Patients don’t always continually decline. Sometimes health will improve. Hospice is based on ongoing evaluation. Patients can come off or go on hospice as needed.
Myth: If on hospice, a patient cannot receive any treatment. Truth: Hospice is not based on a “no treatment” philosophy, rather a shift in treatment goals. If a patient is on hospice for cardiac problems and then breaks a bone, that injury can be treated without coming off hospice.
Myth: All medications stop and morphine is administered. Truth: Medications that are necessary to preserve quality of life are continued. A multi-disciplinary team ensures medications are continually evaluated and discussed.
Myth: Patients die sooner on hospice. Truth: According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, hospice care patients can live 29 days longer than non-hospice patients, with a better quality of life. To learn more about Hospice and see if it may be appropriate for you or a loved you can view our FREE virtual presentation, “What is Hospice,” by clicking the link: https://bit.ly/3XHWEmC
