We Honor Veterans Pinning Ceremony

Saturday December 21, 2013 at Dinwiddie Health and Rehab located in Petersburg, VA, United States Army Lieutenants training at Fort Lee came to visit and honor residents at the facility who were military veterans themselves.  As a We Honor Veteran partner, Medi Home Health & Hospice seeks to recognize and honor veterans in our community.  This turned out to be wonderful event where current soldiers and past military service men had a chance to connect, reflect, and enjoy quality bonding time.  Here is a look at some of the moments that afternoon. 

 

 

We Honor Veterans - Pinning Ceremony

Petersburg, VA  - 

To publicly acknowledge the military service and sacrifices made by the Veterans of Golden Living – Battlefield Park, Medi Home Health & Hospice in Petersburg, VA along with Active Duty members of Fort Lee held a pinning ceremony at the skilled nursing facility.  Medi Home Health and Hospice is a Level II partner of the We Honor Veterans program and these pinning ceremonies are a small portion of what is being done to give back to the Veteran community.  SSgt Sam Gibbs, SSG Keith Fay, and SSgt Mark Wilson presented the Veterans with certificates and American flag lapel pins as a small token of appreciation for what these Veterans have done for our country.

Take a look at some more pictures from the ceremony below.  The staff of Medi Home Health & Hospice hopes this is the first of many opportunities to recognize and honor Veterans in our community through pinning ceremonies and other events.

If you are interested in getting involved with honoring military veterans in central and southern Virginia, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Travis Kennedy via e-mail at tkennedy@msa-corp.com or call the office at 804-732-0108.  We are always looking for volunteers to join our team.  Whether you are a veteran, you come from a military family, or are interested in simply visiting our hospice patients, but have no military background, we have place for you to make a difference in the lives of those with terminal illness.  We hope to hear from you soon!

We Honor Veterans

Medi Hospice in Petersburg Reaches Level One Recognition

As a proud partner of the national We Honor Veterans program, we continue our efforts to promote awareness of veteran end of life issues in our south side Virginia community.  For those of you in our faithful readership who missed the big announcement, here is the link to the post back in January.

This program looks to create a health care system ready and able to accommodate the unique needs military vets and their families may have at the end of life.  Hospices across the country strive to accomplish these goals of accommodating and appropriately respecting our veterans with this special campaign.  Through continued staff education on topics such as post traumatic stress disorder , community partnerships between organizations providing care to veterans, and events recognizing the sacrifice made by our military personnel, we hope to ensure that veterans are able to enjoy the highest quality of care and life possible while dealing with terminal illness.

The program consists of four achievement levels required of hospices to gain recognition and continue to increase the reach of the We Honor Veterans message, all the while providing practical, useful information to health care providers regarding veterans and recognizing veterans for their sacrifices.  Each level asks hospices to complete specific tasks as a systematic, grassroots way of spreading the We Honor Veterans campaign.   Progress through the four levels is tracked and approved by We Honor Veterans, with level four being the highest, most difficult achievement.

To reach Level One, for instance, a hospice must provide 3 educational in-services on the We Honor Veterans program to its own staff.  The hospice must also reach out to community partners to advertise the program and establish a contact person at a nearby Veteran Affairs office.  In addition to those requirements, a hospice must create and implement a Military History Checklist into the admission process for patients.  The checklist provides the hospice an opportunity to gather details of the patient's military service, such as the branch, time period, and locations they may have served.  Implementing this individualized information into the plan of care allows hospices to understand the patient's military past and see that they are receiving the benefits available to them in their time of need. 

Medi's Partner Level 1 certificate

Medi Home Health & Hospice of Petersburg, VA is proud to announce that we have achieved the Level One milestone as set forth by the We Honor Veterans program!  We are already working hard towards Level Two and would love your help along the way!  If you or someone you know would like to get involved as a volunteer of our hospice, please contact Travis Kennedy, the Volunteer Coordinator at 804-732-0108 or via e-mail at tkennedy@msa-corp.com.  We would be especially grateful for any military veterans who are willing to take the time to visit veteran patients for at least one hour per week, serving as a friend and companion.  A volunteer may be one of the last good things to happen in a patient's life, so please consider donating a little of your time to others.

Honoring Our Veterans

Medi Home Health and Hospice Recognized as a We Honor Veterans Partner

By Kristy Ball, RN, BSN - Hospice Clinical Manager

 

 "May each of us here have the grit, the grace, the humility, the love

to heal our war-ravaged soldiers

and our broken nation.

May we be the link that connects the circle so they

feel connected to humanity once again.

May we not miss the opportunity to help those veterans' souls

from Iraq, Desert Storm, Vietnam, Korea, Nazi, Germany

and various other parts of the world where they served

so they can have peace

at last.

May we help them know 

that the circle goes on,

joining them to you and me.

Our people, our nation, our God

would be ever so grateful."

                                                                                                                 -Deborah Grassman

Petersburg, VA — It may surprise many people to learn that 25 percent of those who die every year in the U.S. are Veterans. To help provide care and support that reflect the important contributions made by these men and women, Medi Home Health and Hospice, Petersburg, VA, has become a national partner of We Honor Veterans, a pioneering campaign developed by National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As a We Honor Veterans Partner, Medi Home Health and Hospice will implement ongoing Veteran-centered education for their staff and volunteers to help improve the care they provide to the Veterans they proudly serve.  The nation is seeing many of the Veterans who served in World War II and Korean pass away—and the number of deaths of Vietnam Veterans is beginning to rise.

The We Honor Veterans campaign provides tiered recognition to organizations that demonstrate a systematic commitment to improving care for Veterans. “Partners” can assess their ability to serve Veterans and, using resources provided as part of the campaign, integrate best practices for providing end-of-life care to Veterans into their organization. By recognizing the unique needs of our nation’s Veterans who are facing a life-limiting illness, Medi Home Health and Hospice is better able to accompany and guide Veterans and their families toward a more peaceful ending. And in cases where there might be some specific needs related to the Veteran’s  military service, combat experience or other traumatic events, Medi Home Health and Hospice will find tools to help support those they are caring for.

“All hospices are serving Veterans but often aren’t aware of that person’s service in the armed forces,” said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. “Through We Honor Veterans we are taking a giant step forward in helping hospice and palliative care providers understand and serve Veterans at the end of life and work more effectively with VA medical facilities in their communities.”

“VA shares a common goal with our nation’s hospices, and that is to provide the best possible care specifically tailored for Veterans, meeting their goals of care in their preferred setting.  As we focus on working together and unite our services and skills, We Honor Veterans will channel our combined strengths directly to Veterans - wherever they are receiving care.”

The resources of We Honor Veterans focus on respectful inquiry, compassionate listening, and grateful acknowledgment, coupled with Veteran-centric education of health care staff caring for Veterans. To learn more about We Honor Veterans or to support this important work via a secure, online donation, please visit www.wehonorveterans.org.

“America’s Veterans have done everything asked of them in their mission to serve our country and we believe it is never too late to give them a hero’s welcome home. Now it is time that we step up, acquire the necessary skills and fulfill our mission to serve these men and women with the dignity they deserve,” added Schumacher.