Recently Published!!
by Maryclaire Torinus
Surviving Hospice: A Chaplain's Journey into the Big Business of Dying Plus: How To Find a Trustworthy Hospice
This narrative is an insider’s look into the hijacking of hospice by private equity and professional investors and the subsequent harm to patients, their families, and to the interdisciplinary clinical teams. It was released by a NYC publisher on October 31, 2023. For sale on Amazon.
The author, a hospice chaplain, tells end-of-life stories of her patients who were harmed by financially-motivated policies. This is a book for anyone who is embarking on making a choice about a hospice for their loved one, working chaplains, those in training, and those interested in what dying is like with a hospice who places patients as their primary stakeholders.
Maryclaire's experience working for an owner who sold to a private equity firm helped her to realize that the reputation and viability of hospice is in jeopardy. Her goal is to alert all who love hospice to rid it of professional investors.
— Stacy Juba, author, editor, and award-winning health journalist
"Powerful, beautifully written, and eye-opening, this book spotlights the inner workings of a multi-billion-dollar industry and the effect on patients, families, and hospice staff. The author shares poignant accounts of hospice at its best and worst and the hard-hitting truths she learned on her journey. A must-read for family members exploring hospice care."
— Laura Kukowski, CEO, editor, For-Profit Badger Hospice, LLC
"Maryclaire Torinus speaks with authority, providing this essential handbook for choosing a hospice care team and why that selection really matters."
— Greg Schneider President, HVA, co-author of The Changing Face of Hospice Volunteering in Hospice and Palliative Care
"When I first found out that Maryclaire Torinus was writing this book, I immediately contacted her because in my 25+ years supporting hospice volunteers, I have seen a gradual decline in the quality of care volunteers are permitted to provide the dying and their families. There are a variety of reasons for this that I describe in the Foreward of this book. Maryclaire provides invaluable insights that everyone should know, along with solutions to help others make the right choice in choosing a hospice."
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Replies
Hi Diane,
We use interns in our agency. Healthcare Admin & Social Work mostly. We combed through the regulations prior to taking on interns, looking for clear direction and basically found one sentence that states using interns is up to the discretion of the agency. We don't count IDG time or their standard volunteer training but having interns gives us a very solid buffer and level of consistency that regular volunteers can't always maintain. We have gone on to hire several of our students which has put us in good standing with their colleges.
Christina:
Thanks for your response. What you are saying makes sense, so I might try to fit it into our current policies. I was, and remain, very curious about how other hospice providers count interns and am looking for any real world examples. Thanks again!
From what I understand, you are able to use interns, but CANNOT count the hours that they spend "shadowing" a specific discipline. This would be considered training and, as you know, we are not able to count training hours toward our 5%. However, if they spend time in the office doing paperwork, for example, or visiting the patient on their own as a volunteer, you are able to count those hours. Hope this helps!
But as aways, it has to be up to your organization. Mine doesn't have a program and we push for intern and practicum program in the area.
Jennifer Thompson, CVA
Tulsa OK
The purpose of the use of volunteers, outside of the obvious, is to save the hospice money. A volunteer's hours can be counted if paid hospice staff would otherwise be doing the task of the volunteer. Whether or not a student volunteer receives a stipend is irrelevant. The key is that the hospice is paying nothing for the services of the student volunteer.
I believe the same applies on the use of interns. I would suggest contacting Yolande Adams [Yolande.Adams@stjoe.org (707) 778-6242] at the Hospice of Petaluma in Petaluma, CA. I know that she often uses interns for her children's bereavement program. She can tell you if the hours of the interns count.
Greg Schneider
HCF Creator
President, HVA
Diane,
Our location does use intern hours toward 5%, in fact Social Work Interns have been a primary source for us.
Paul, we just started using social work intern this past semester. I didn't know we could use social work intern hours for the 5%. What are the requirements? Do they have to go through volunteer training? What other things do you track.
Thank you Paul, Janice