The beginning of any year brings forth new goals, desires, plans, and commitments. Here at LightBridge Hospice, our focus is unchanged: To provide the highest quality of support to those in need of hospice care. Our passion for caretaking is what drives our entire team to provide loving care to our patients and their families.
The year 2016 brought about exciting new partnerships and programs that we plan on growing and refining as we enter 2017. Our Heart to Heart program is allowing cardiac patients to more effectively manage pain while reducing the need for emergency care. Our Dementia Program honors who patients were before dementia set in, allowing for their social and emotional needs to be cared for, as well as their physical needs. Veterans are a very special population in San Diego. Our care team continues to receive specialized training to ensure that our Veterans’ years of service to our country is honored and their last days are lived with the dignity they so deserve. In addition to expanding these successful programs, LightBridge continues to look for ways to leverage technology to enhance a patient’s level of care. One example is through having nurse practitioners and physicians offer video tele-visits to those receiving palliative care. We have already begun to implement this new resource and our patients and families have found that it allows patients to receive high level care while in the comfort of their home environment.
There are many “behind-the-scenes” pieces that aren’t always visible to patients and their loved ones, but this unseen work is what allows us to provide a seamless experience for patients who are receiving care from several different providers. Patients and their families should be focused on living the last part of their life to the fullest, not worried about trying to coordinate treatment. LightBridge continues to work to create new and strengthen established partnerships with other care institutions in the community, such as private home care agencies and the existing medical groups in San Diego. This allows families to focus on what is really important; quality time spent with their loved ones.
The New Year will undoubtedly bring changes, but what will remain unchanged is LightBridge’s resolve to bring the highest level of comfort and care to patients. As the founder and CEO, Jill Mendlen, says, “It is a sacred honor to walk with people through this important part of their life.” It is this commitment to hospice care that is woven into the culture, spirit, and hearts of those within LightBridge. Our passion is unwavering and we are humbled to be a part of patients’ lives.
By: Jill Mendlen, Founder/CEO
