Elsa G. Gorordo

NEWTON – Elsa G. Gorordo, of Newton celebrated her 100th birthday on Wednesday, June 13, 2018. She was surrounded by family, loved ones, friends and caregivers from Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice at Ave Care in Newton to celebrate the occasion. Gorordo, is wife of the late Luis Gorordo and mother to Elsa Schock of Sparta. Gorordo came to live in America in the early 60s from Cuba during the reign of Fidel Castro. She became a citizen of the United States in the 1970s. In Cuba, Gorordo was a middle school science teacher and a teacher of children with disabilities. After learning to speak English she taught Spanish to students in America. Her greatest joy has been caring for her grandchildren and she has three great grandchildren. She is admired by her family and friends for her love of God, people and life. A proclamation issued by the Board of Chosen Freeholders recognized and honored Elsa Gorordo’s 100 years of life.

Elsa Gorordo, Spanish Teacher in 1970

Inquiries have been coming in to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization asking for an explanation of what is included in Comfort Care.

(Alexandria, Va) – It has been widely reported in a statement from the Bush family that former First Lady Barbara Bush has decided to forgo further hospitalizations and curative-focused medical treatments and has chosen to receive comfort care. Questions have come in to NHPCO asking for further details about what makes up comfort care.

Comfort Care refers to care plan for the patient that is focused on symptom control, pain relief, and quality of life. Often support is provided to family members to help them understand the care plan and to address needs and concerns they might have.

There are different forms of comfort care. Two of the best known are hospice and palliative care. 

Under hospice care, a person receives medical care as well as emotional, psycho-social, and spiritual care delivered by an Interdisciplinary team of professionals that includes a physician, nurse, social worker, allied therapists, counselors, home health aides, spiritual and grief support and trained volunteers. Each person’s care plan would be tailored to his or her specific needs with some patients requiring services that others might not need.

Palliative care means patient and family-centered care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering. Palliative care throughout the continuum of illness involves addressing physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs and to facilitate patient autonomy, access to information, and choice.

“Under the philosophy of hospice and palliative care, the goal is care and not cure,” said Edo Banach, President and CEO of NHPCO. “The same principles would apply to comfort care.”

Under the Medicare hospice benefit, a person must have a prognosis of six months or less within the doctor’s best estimation; however, hospice can be provided for as long as the patient needs it and is not limited to six months. Palliative care provides care and services without the required six month prognosis and can be provided alongside curative or life-prolonging treatment.

Hospice care serves people coping with cancer, dementia, heart disease, COPD, renal disease and other illnesses. The majority of hospice care is provided in the home, yet hospice care also is provided in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and in-patient settings.

Comfort care would reflect the principles of hospice and palliative care, specifically designed to meet the needs of the individual patient and family caregivers.  Hospice care provides the most comprehensive array of covered services.

In the U.S., hospice organizations are the primary providers of community-based palliative care and comfort care services.

“If a family is struggling with a serious or life-limiting illness, it is never too early to reach out to your local hospice and ask about care they offer and if it might be right for a loved one,” Banach said.

While more than 1.5 million patients avail themselves of hospice care every year, nearly 30 percent of Medicare beneficiaries received care for seven days or less, which hospice professionals consider too short a time to fully take advantage of all that hospice offers.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about hospice is that it’s giving up,” said Lori Bishop, NHPCO Vice President of Palliative and Advanced Care. “Hospice provides high-quality care and support to the whole person and to family caregivers with the goal of quality of life.”

Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice was presented the Best Non-Profit Organization of the Year Award at the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce “Toast to the Stars,” Awards dinner on Wednesday, May 9th.

The award was presented in recognition of outstanding accomplishments by a non-profit organization with a reputation for excellence within the non-profit community, as well as with the public at large.

Other nominees and award winners can be viewed here. Click here.

Newton, NJ – May 3, 2018. Subaru World of Newton presented $15,000 to Julia Quinlan, co-founder and chairman of Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice on Thursday, May 3, 2018 at the dealership showroom in Newton. Subaru World of Newton has proudly donated more than $65,000 to the Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice since 2015.

The donation was the result of the “Subaru Shares the Love” Campaign. Subaru of America, Inc. marked it’s 50^th Anniversary in the United States in 2017. And for the second year in a row, there was no cap on the total donation from Subaru of America to its Share the Love charitable partners.  2017 marked the tenth anniversary of the event.

From November 16, 2017 to January 2, 2018, Subaru donated $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased to the customer’s choice of a national charity or a pre-approved hometown charity. Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice was selected as the hometown charity to be the recipient of the annual campaign.

The initial check to the hospice was for $14,584. Wally Darwish, general manager and Donald Allen, district parts and service manager each added additional donations to surpass the original $15,000 fundraising goal. “We are about reaching goals at this dealership,” said Allen. “Goals of the families we serve in the community, our employees and charitable organizations.”

“Subaru World of Newton is a committed partner in the local community. Over the years, we’ve faithfully donated to local organizations, like the Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice, hosted pet adoptions, rain coat drives for Project Self Sufficiency and funded our local elementary school’s projects. Paying it forward is important to our dealership and we’re always looking to provide expert care and love to those we interact with every day,” said Darwish.

“We’ve been the proud recipient of the Subaru Stellar Care Award, now currently known as the Love Promise Award, twice for outstanding customer satisfaction driven by our remarkable sales and service teams,” said Michele Rygiel, district sales manager from Subaru Distributors Corporation.

“We are so thankful for the continued support of Subaru of Newton,” said Julia Quinlan. “There are so many families in the communities we serve that will benefit from this generosity.”

The Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice is a not-for-profit organization which provide a full continuum of high quality medical, emotional and spiritual services to individuals requiring hospice, family members and the community.

Wally Darwish, general Manager of Subaru World of Newton (front left) presents a check to Julia Quinlan as part of the Subaru Shares the Love annual charitable giving promotion as the staff of Subaru World of Newton and Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice join in the presentation.

Newton, NJ, May 1, 2018 — Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice has been named a 2018 Hospice Honors Elite recipient by HEALTHCAREfirst, the leading provider of Web-based home health and hospice software, billing and coding services, CAHPS surveys, and advanced analytics. Hospice Honors is a prestigious program that recognizes hospices providing the highest level of quality as measured from the caregiver’s point of view.

“We are excited to recognize the 2018 Hospice Honors recipients for their hard work and dedication to providing exceptional care,” said J. Kevin Porter of HEALTHCAREfirst. “I congratulate Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice on its success in achieving this highest of honors.”

Award criteria were based on Hospice CAHPS survey results for an evaluation period of October 2016 through September 2017. Award recipients were identified by evaluating performance on a set of 24 quality indicator measures. Performance scores were aggregated from all completed surveys and were compared on a question-by-question basis to a National Performance Score calculated from all partnering hospices contained in the HEALTHCAREfirst’s Hospice CAHPS database. Hospice Honors recipients include those hospices scoring above the HEALTHCAREfirst National Performance Score on 20 of the evaluated questions. HEALTHCAREfirst holds a special recognition, Hospice Honors Elite, to honor hospices scoring above the HEALTHCAREfirst National Performance Score on all 24 of the evaluated questions.  Please visit HEALTHCAREfirst’s website at www.healthcarefirst.com to learn more about HEALTHCAREfirst Hospice CAHPS survey program as well as the Hospice Honors awards.

About HEALTHCAREfirst

HEALTHCAREfirst provides Web-based technologies and services to improve business and clinical operations for over four thousand home health and hospice providers across the United States. Based in Springfield, MO and one of the fastest growing providers of its kind, the company provides agency and clinical management software, outsourced revenue cycle management services (billing, coding and OASIS Review), CAHPS surveys, and advanced analytics, in any combination. HEALTHCAREfirst’s breadth of solutions offers agencies a single source to improve patient care, create operational efficiencies, increase profitability, and simplify CMS compliance. With HEALTHCAREfirst, agencies can focus on patients instead of paperwork. 

The winning secret number from the 2018 Hospice Honors Banquet is 321. Please contact our office by Monday April 23, 5 pm, if you have the winning number. You can call 973-383-0115 ext. 145 to claim your prize of two tickets to the 2018 Wine and Cheese Festival. If no prize is claimed we will draw a different number.

2018 Hospice Honors Photo Gallery – Photos by Paul Wheeler

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Ribbon cutting ceremony at the grand opening of the new permanent home of the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center in April of 2017. Left to right: John Quinlan, Director of Development, Julia Quinlan, President of the Governing Board and co-founder; MaryEllen Quinlan, Vice-President of the Governing Board; Diana Sebzda, Director of Bereavement; Cecelia Clayton, Executive Director; Tammie Horsfield, President Sussex County Chamber of Commerce; Lorri Optiz, Bereavement Counselor, Tara Reyes, Bereavement Counselor and Nancy Moody, Bereavement Counselor.

The public is invited to attend an Open House to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the new permanent location of the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center. The open house will be held on Friday, April 20, 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., at the Bereavement Center located on 5 Plains Road in Augusta.

The Center exists for the community. Counselor help those who are finding it difficult to function because of the loss of a loved one find ways to cope.

The Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement center has continuously served families in the community since 2000. Previously located on 61 Spring Street in Newton, the Center moved to its new, permanent location last April. The building on 5 Plains Road was purchased because of the generous support of the community. The Center also has satellite offices in Hackettstown and Milford, PA.

“Unfortunately, at some time in everyone’s life they will experience the loss of a loved one. The services offered by the staff and the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center truly help people find the road to recovery,” said Diana Sebzda, MA, LPC, FT, Director of Bereavement.

The centers currently offer group support meetings, anticipatory grief support counseling for families with a loved one who is dealing with a terminal illness, school bereavement support programs, memorial services, grief lecture series, children’s bereavement art programs, pet loss support groups and more.

“The Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center is a sanctuary of safety. I felt unconditional acceptance and support and left feeling renewed and hopeful,” said Charles Stackhouse who received services from the Center.

We encourage those who have not stopped by for a visit in our new location to please consider it on Friday, April 20^th. There is no obligation, just stop by to chat with one of our counselors and take a tour. If you know someone in need of help, bring them so they can experience first-hand the warmth, compassion and professionalism of our staff with no pressure of commitment.

A free travel tumbler will be given to the first 40 guests to attend the Open House. For more information or to RSVP please call 973-948-2283.

Bereavement refers specifically to the process of recovering from the death of a loved one. Grief is a reaction to any form of loss. Both encompass a range of feelings from deep sadness to anger, and the process of adapting to a significant loss can vary dramatically from one person to another.

Everyone grieves in their own way and in their own time. Some people recover from grief and resume normal activities within six months, though they continue to feel moments of sadness. Others may feel better after about a year, and sometimes people continue to grieve for years without seeming to improve or find relief even temporarily. 

When a person’s grief-related thoughts, behaviors, or feelings are extremely distressing, unrelenting, or incite concern, a qualified mental health professional may be able to help.

A therapist might help the bereaved find different ways to maintain healthy connections with the deceased through memory, reflection, ritual, or dialogue about the deceased and with the deceased.

In addition to individual therapy, group therapy can be helpful for those who find solace in the reciprocal sharing of thoughts and feelings, and recovery results are often rapid in this setting. Similarly, family therapy may be suitable for a family whose members are struggling to adapt to the loss of a family member.

The Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center offers grief support and counseling for both hospice families and anyone in the community. The professional and caring staff can bring comfort and understanding which will help you and your family through difficult times. The counselors at the center offer individual counseling and ongoing support groups.

The month of April marks the one-year anniversary of finding a permanent home for the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center on 5 Plains Road in Augusta. The Center also operates satellite offices in Hackettstown and Milford, PA.

If you know of anyone who could benefit from out services, please give them our phone number, 973-948-2283. One phone call can make the difference.

Cecelia Clayton, MPH, executive director at Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice will be presenting a 4-part lecture series for those living with grief. Pre-registration is required as walk-ins will not be accepted. You can learn more about the series and register online at KarenAnnQuinlanHospice.org/

Children who participated in the summer children’s art bereavement program made several crafts as they learned methods to cope with the loss of a loved one.

The effects of unresolved grief on children can be devastating. From a child’s perspective, the experience of loss is not only overwhelming emotionally, but affects cognitive functioning as well.

Young children may be unable to recognize or categorize their losses, let alone sort them one from another. They may receive unclear explanations or no information at all about why these losses have occurred.

Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice and the Joseph T. Quinlan Bereavement Center will host the Children’s Art Bereavement Program on Thursday evenings, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., starting on March 8. This themed program is designed for children (age 6-12) who have experienced the loss of a loved one through death. This program will focus on meeting the individualized needs of grieving children through art and play.

This series also helps children understand their own unique feelings in grief, allows them to come together with others who have also experienced the loss of a loved one, and provides an environment where they feel comfortable asking questions and expressing their feelings and fears about death.

For the adults, a simultaneous group will be provided for the parents or guardians. This group will be educational and supportive in nature.  

Registration for this session is limited. Pre-registration is required and there is a $100.00 fee to help cover the cost of materials and supplies. Limited scholarships are available. Please call Diana Sebzda, Director of Bereavement for more information or to register at 973-948-2282 or email bereavement@karenannquinlanhospice.org.