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LA GRANDE – GRH has provided Hospice care to the families of Union County for more than 30 years. Even so, may people still do not realized that hospice is not a physical place.

Hospice is high-quality care that enables patients and families to focus on living as fully as possible despite a life-limiting illness. November is National Hospice and Palliative Care Month and programs across the country are reaching out to help people understand all these care programs have to offer.

It is essential that people understand hospice and palliative care is not giving up, it is not the abandonment of care, it is not reserved for the imminently dying,” said Edo Banach, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “Hospice is a successful model of person-centered care that brings hope, dignity and compassion when they are most needed.”

Every year, nearly 1.5 million Medicare beneficiaries receive hospice care in this country, reports NHPCO. Hospice and palliative care programs provide pain management, symptom control, psychosocial support, and spiritual care to patients and their family caregivers when a cure is not possible.

Throughout the month of November, GRH Hospice will join organizations across the nation to raise awareness and help their communities understand how vital hospice and palliative care can be.

“The most important service we provide to our community is the quality of care we offer. Our Home Health and Hospice team love what they do, and it shows in their exceptional care,” said Doug Romer, Executive Director Patient Care Services at GRH.

In fact, GRH Hospice in the only local hospice care provider that consistently meets and exceeds the national benchmarks for quality of care established by Medicare.

More information about hospice, palliative care, and advance care planning is available from GRH Hospice by calling 541.963.CARE, or by going online to www.grh.org/our-services/home-health-hospice/. To find out more about how GRH Hospice compares to others in the region, visit www.medicare.gov/hospiceCompare/

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Grande Ronde Hospital, Inc. is a state and nationally recognized and award winning not-for-profit health system that includes a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital and 12 outpatient clinics and one virtual care clinic. We are located in Union County, Oregon, serving our base population of more than 25,000 residents, as well as providing services for the greater Eastern Oregon region. Since 1907, Grande Ronde Hospital has led this region in efforts to stabilize and secure rural health care services for the communities we serve, while also working to improve the quality of life of all our residents. Today we employ more than 700 people, all dedicated to providing quality health care services to our patients. We offer a broad range of diagnostic, surgical and therapeutic outpatient services, a Level IV Trauma Emergency Services Department, a Family Birthing Center; Physical, Occupational and Speech Rehabilitation Therapy and Sports Medicine Services, and Home Care Services providing both home health and hospice care needs. We also operate 13 primary and specialty care clinics: the Cardiology Clinic, the Dermatology Clinic, the Elgin Clinic, the Hematology & Oncology Clinic, the Neurology Clinic, the ReadyCare (virtual) Clinic, the Regional Medical Clinic, the Sleep Clinic, the Specialty Clinic (General Surgery, Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, Otolaryngology (ENT), and Urology), the Walk-In Clinic, the Wound Care Clinic, the Union Clinic, and the Women’s & Children’s Clinic (Gynecology, Obstetrics and Pediatrics). For more information, please visit www.grh.org.