Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice has been named a 2017 Hospice Honors “Elite” recipient by Deyta Analytics, a division of HEALTHCAREfirst, the leading provider of web-based home health and hospice software, billing and coding services, and advanced analytics.

Hospice Honors, a prestigious program, recognizes hospices providing the highest level of quality as measured from the caregiver’s point of view. Deyta Analytics holds a special recognition, Hospice Honors Elite, to honor hospices scoring above the Deyta Analytics National Performance Score on all 24 of the evaluated questions.

The Hospice Honors is a landmark compilation of hospices providing the best patient and caregiver experience. The award recognizes top performing hospices for their hard work and dedication. Karen Ann Quinlan is one of six hospices in New Jersey to be recognized for Hospice Honors and one of two to achieve the Hospice Honors “Elite” designation.

“We are honored to be in the company of other New Jersey Hospices, and health care facilities nationwide, being recognized by Deyta Analytics. To achieve “Elite” status validates the exemplary care extended to our community by our dedicated team,” said Cecelia Clayton, Executive Director at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice.

The Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) was mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). As part of the HQRP, all Medicare-certified hospices are required to submit quality data to The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS). The survey was designed to measure and assess the experiences of patients who died while receiving hospice care, as well as the experiences of their primary caregivers. Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice utilizes the vendor DEYTA to collect and submit data on our behalf to CAHPS.

DEYTA administers a CAHPS, hospice experience of care, survey to caregivers after the death of a hospice patient. The survey asks questions about care during the patient hospice stay.

Hospice Honors acknowledges high performing agencies by analyzing performance of Hospice CAHPS quality measures. HEALTHCAREfirst identified award recipients by evaluating hospices’ performance on a set of 24 quality indicator measures. Individual hospice performance scores were aggregated from all surveys with a final survey status of complete for the evaluation period and were compared on a question-by-question basis to a national performance score calculated from all partnering hospices contained in HEALTHCAREfirst‘s Hospice CAHPS database.

Hand hygiene and antimicrobial stewardship

When should I wash my hands?
Many illnesses can be prevented with regular hand hygiene using soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Clean your hands often, and request that others do the same.

Before eating;
Before, during, and after preparing food;
After using the bathroom;
After coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose, or caring for someone who is ill;
After taking out the garbage;
After petting animals;
When visiting someone who is sick; and
Whenever your hands look or feel dirty!
What hand hygiene products should I use?

Keeping your hands clean is the number one way to prevent the spread of infection. Here are a few things to consider when choosing a hand hygiene product.

Plain soap and water is one of the best ways to remove germs from your hands. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the following are steps to properly washing your hands: wet, lather, scrub, rinse, and dry.

Alcohol sanitizer is good to use if soap and water are not available. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers that contain at least 60 percent alcohol can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs. It’s great to carry a small dispenser with you when you are out shopping, at the grocery store, in an airport, or on a plane.

Antimicrobial soap is used in healthcare settings like doctor’s offices, dentists, or hospitals. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it is not necessary to use antibacterial soaps at home.

What is antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria change in a way that reduces or eliminates the ability of antibiotics to kill that bacteria. Washing your hands will help keep you healthy and prevent your need for antibiotics. But if you get sick, do not pressure your healthcare provider for antibiotics. If you are prescribed antibiotics, take all of them—even if you start to feel better.

Here are some other ways to celebrate World Hand Hygiene Day.

You can commit to always cough into your sleeve and not your hands. You can play handwashing games by singing a song for children when they wash their hands. You can make handwashing a routine and important part of your daily life to prevent the spread of harmful germs in your home.

Please join us on May 5 in celebrating the importance of clean hands worldwide to stop the spread of antimicrobial resistance!

NEWTON, NJ — Community Health Accreditation Partner, Inc., (CHAP) announced that Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice has been awarded CHAP Accreditation under the CHAP Hospice Standards of Excellence. By achieving CHAP Accreditation, Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice has also been deemed to meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation and is certified as a Medicare provider. During the CHAP evaluation Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice was found to have no deficiencies or faults and no required actions were necessary.
CHAP Accreditation demonstrates that Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice meets the industry’s highest nationally recognized standards. The rigorous evaluation by CHAP focuses on structure and function, quality of services and products, human and financial resources and long term viability. Simply stated, adherence to CHAP’s standards leads to better quality care. “By achieving CHAP Accreditation, Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice has shown a commitment to excellence,” said Karen Collishaw, CHAP President & CEO. “For more than 16 years Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice has achieved CHAP Accreditation, and we are excited to continue our partnership by offering support in its commitment to providing quality care and continuous improvement.”
Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice provides a variety of services to patients and their families in Sussex, and Warren Counties in New Jersey and Pike County in Pennsylvania.
CHAP is an independent, not-for-profit, accrediting body for community-based health care organizations. Created in 1965, CHAP was the first to recognize the need and value for accreditation in community-based care. CHAP is the oldest national, community-based accrediting body with more than 9,000 agencies currently accredited nationwide. Through “deeming authority” granted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), CHAP has the regulatory authority to survey agencies providing home health, hospice and home medical equipment services, to determine if they meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation and CMS Quality Standards. CHAP’s purpose is to define and advance the highest standards of community-based care.
For more information about the CHAP Accreditation process, please visit the CHAP website at www.chapinc.org.
For additional information, contact Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice at 973-383-0115.

Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center now located on 5 Plains Road in Augusta, NJ

(AUGUSTA, NJ) – The Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center will take occupancy in its new, permanent home on April 1, 2017. Formerly located on 61 Spring Street in Newton, the Bereavement Center will now be located on 5 Plains Road in Augusta in the former Moonlight Imaging building.
The public is invited to an open house at the new location on April 12 from 3 – 6 p.m. Light refreshment will be served and attendees will get a tour of the new center and learn about the programs that will be offered there.
The new Bereavement Center in Augusta is central headquarters for the bereavement program with satellite centers located on 214 Washington Street in Hackettstown and at the United Methodist Church, on Ann Street in Milford, PA.

“We want to thank everyone who has helped to make this move possible,” said Cecelia Clayton, MPH, Executive Director at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice.
“We’ve come a long way since the opening of the first bereavement center at the St. James Episcopal Church in Hackettstown. This move will enable us to further serve the growing need for bereavement counseling in our community,” said Clayton. 

Clayton, formerly Director of Bereavement, initiated many of the organization’s bereavement programs that are still in effect today.
In 2000, Clayton realized a need in the community for bereavement counseling, and not wanting to limit these groups to only hospice families, presented a proposal to the hospice Board of Directors to create the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center, named after Karen Ann Quinlan’s father, who along with his wife Julia were founders of the hospice. Joseph Quinlan died on December 7, 1996.
The Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center, utilizing space offered to the hospice by St. James Episcopal Church, opened its doors on April 2, 2000 in Hackettstown, NJ.  The opening of the Hackettstown office assured that bereavement programs would be available not only to hospice families, but to anyone in the Warren County community who was grieving a loss through death.
Bereavement counseling was also offered at the hospice administrative offices located on 99 Sparta Avenue, before officially opening a second location of the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center at 61 Spring Street in 2011.

“We are very excited to start this new chapter, where we can offer our services in a beautiful and comforting setting. The Bereavement Center is a not-for-profit agency that offers services not only to hospice families, but to our community as well. We are the only bereavement center in the state that offers full bereavement and anticipatory grief services,” said Diana Sebzda, MA, LPC, FT, Director of Bereavement.
“Our services are completed funded by donations from the community. We are proud to say that we never turn anyone away regardless of their ability to pay. Services include individual grief counseling, Coping with Loss Support Groups, Children Art Bereavement Programs, Pet Loss Support Groups, workshops for school professionals, workshops to teach facilitating your own support group, and so much more,” said Sebzda.

“In 2016, we offered individual counseling to more than 1,484 people from the Spring Street office, that doesn’t include the number of people that attended group support meetings at that location,” said Sebzda. 
“We simply outgrew the Spring Street location. We needed additional private rooms for one-on-one counseling, a large conference room for workshop space, staff meetings and in-service seminars, smaller classrooms for webinars and staff training and a special room dedicated to families and play therapy,” said Sebdza. 
“We are always developing new programs. A new facility with better visibility in the community, better parking, and a centralized location will help us to have meetings and events on the weekends, and evenings and attract more volunteers. We will continue to build upon the excellent programs that we currently offer.”
“We are at 50% of our goal to raise $350,000 to fund the new center. We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the campaign so far. Meeting our fundraising goal will ensure that we can continue to offer support groups, scholarships for children’s bereavement art programs and more in a safe, comfortable and caring environment,” said Clayton.
Those who wish to donate or have questions about the campaign can contact John Quinlan, Director of Foundation, at 973-383-0115 ext. 148 or visit the hospice website at KarenAnnQuinlanHospice.org/Capital 

Free Screening of ‘Being Mortal’ on April 19, 2017

Newton Theatre and Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice are holding a free, community screening of the documentary “Being Mortal” on April 19, 6 p.m. at Newton Theatre on 234 Spring Street in Newton. After the screening, audience members can participate in a guided conversation on how to take concrete steps to identify and communicate wishes about end-of-life goals and preferences.

“Being Mortal” delves into the hopes of patients and families facing terminal illness. The film investigates the practice of caring for the dying and explores the relationships between patients and their doctors. It follows a surgeon, Dr. Atul Gawande, as he shares stories from the people and families he encounters. When Dr. Gawande’s own father gets cancer, his search for answers about how best to care for the dying becomes a personal quest. The film sheds light on how a medical system focused on a cure often leaves out the sensitive conversations that need to happen so a patient’s true wishes can be known and honored at the end.

“Being Mortal” underscores the importance of people planning ahead and talking with family members about end-of-life decisions.

Seventy percent of Americans say they would prefer to die at home, but nearly 70 percent die in hospitals and institutions. Ninety percent of Americans know they should have conversations about end-of-life care, yet only 30 percent have done so.

The free screening is made possible by a grant from The John and Wauna Harman Foundation in partnership with the Hospice Foundation of America.

For more information about the free screening, contact Lee Ellison, Director of Marketing at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice at 973-383-0115 or [email protected]. Attendees can also register on our website at www.KarenAnnQuinlanHospice.org/BeingMortal.

In the living room, a grandfather laughs and plays video games with his granddaughters. Later, he joins the rest of his family to say grace before enjoying a meal together. Moments like these may seem ordinary to most. Would it surprise you to know that this grandfather, Robert from Buffalo, NY, is dying and on hospice care?

Many people think that being on hospice means lying in a bed, barely conscious. Robert is a patient who proves that is not case. Many of his final moments were anything but ordinary, and they would not have been possible without the help of hospice.

Robert’s experience is not unique. The mission of hospice is to provide specialized care for end-of-life patients and their families. More simply, hospice care supports living one’s life to the fullest with dignity regardless of how much time remains.

When Robert was diagnosed with cancer, he “wondered if there was any chance of getting my quality of life back while I was still alive.” His answer, “I knew at that moment it was time to call hospice.”

Here are some of the common myths of hospice that need to be put to rest:

MYTH: Hospice care means leaving home.

FACT: Hospice services can be provided in a patient’s own home, a home for hospice, a nursing home, long-term care facility or a hospice care center. Hospice is not a place. In fact, hospice services can be provided to a terminally ill patient and his or her family wherever they are most comfortable, or wherever they consider “home.” Robert’s wish was to make sure he was able to stay home at the end of his life. Hospice made it possible for Robert’s son, Eric, and his family to move into Robert’s home and enjoy dinner together four to five times each week.

MYTH: Hospice means forgoing all medical treatment.

FACT: Hospice nurses and physicians are experts in the latest medications and devices for pain and symptom relief. In every case, a hospice provider will assess the needs of the patient, deciding which medications and equipment are needed for maximum comfort. For example, Robert’s medical staff provided sleep medication to help him through the night. “I am speaking from the heart when I say hospice provides not only superb medical care, but also offers compassion that I would not have gotten anywhere else,” Robert said.

MYTH: Hospice means strangers care for you.

FACT: Hospice provides a dedicated team of specialists to suit the needs of each patient and educate family members to serve as caregivers. Hospice organizations strive to educate family members to serve as the primary caregivers for an end-of- life patient. In addition, “The doctors, nurses, aides, social workers, therapists and chaplains who make up my hospice team are there whenever I need them,” Robert said, “All I have to do is pick up the phone and someone from hospice is there to help.”

MYTH: Hospice care ends when someone dies.

FACT: Hospice organizations offer bereavement services for all ages. Hospice counseling services that deal specifically with grief and coping after the loss of a loved one are available at no cost for up to a year after someone dies. Robert’s son, Eric, credits hospice as something that he and his family can always look back and reflect on in a positive way. “As difficult as it was, it was really special to all be together. My wife and I talk about it all the time now,” Eric said.

MYTH: People on hospice are in bed, waiting to die.

FACT: Hospice enables special moments and memories at the end of a life that would otherwise not happen. Robert called hospice because he wanted to live happily and with dignity, restoring a quality of life that he would have otherwise lost to invasive treatments and surgeries. In a final letter chronicling his hospice experience, Robert wrote, “If I inspire others to call hospice, I know I’ve made a difference.”

Steve Bieganousky, founder of BIGGS Kids presents a check for $10,000 to members of the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center capital campaign. From left: Diana Sebzda, Director of Bereavement, Steven Bieganousky, Julia Quinlan, Co-founder Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice and Robin Tomlinson, V.P. Branch Sales Manager at Sussex Bank.

Steve Bieganousky, founder of the Steven P. Bieganousky Foundation for Children, Inc., presented a check for $10,000 to Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Capital Campaign committee members. The donation will benefit the Family Therapy/Children’s Art Room at the new, permanent home of the Bereavement Center on 5 Plains Road in Augusta. The Bereavement Center, currently located on 61 Spring Street in Newton, expects to take residence in the new center in early April.

Steven P. Bieganousky was a 21 year-old Sparta resident who died suddenly in a car accident on March 27, 2005. His father Steve Bieganousky wants to make sure his son’s devotion to children lives on.

“It was heart warming to know that Steven had positively touched people’s lives of
all ages.” -Steven Bieganousky

The Bieganousky family founded The Steven P. Bieganousky Foundation for Children, Inc., an organization (also known as BIGGS Kids) dedicated to raising funds to benefit area youngsters.

Money raised through the foundation will be distributed to local agencies providing educational, recreational and health programs for children in Sussex County.

Although The Bieganousky’s know nothing will ever make things the way they were when Steven was here, they believe the new foundation is a fitting tribute and the perfect legacy for a son taken too soon.

“I was so proud – it was what kept me going – he is my hero.” -Steven Bieganousky

BIGGS Kids MISSION:

• Raise awareness for the needs of children at risk.
• Be a source of financial support to qualified local organizations that provide opportunities to make a positive difference in a child’s life.
• Maintain a high level of integrity throughout the fundraising process and disbursement of funds.
• Attain these goals as Steven would in a loving, caring way, not being afraid to speak on behalf of a child’s defense.

For those wanting to learn more about the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center’s capital campaign or BIGGS Kids please call 973-383-0115. The Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center provides grief support and counseling for hospice families and the community free of charge. The staff works to bring comfort and understanding to help families through difficult times. Individual counseling and ongoing support groups are offered. Support groups include: anticipatory grief support, school bereavement support, memorial services, grief lecture series, children’s bereavement art program and pet loss support.