By Kyle LoJacono
In 1988, registered nurse Carol Springer founded Gulfside Regional Hospice as a way to help treat people with end-of-life care in New Port Richey.
The fledgling organization was lucky to help 50 people a year in the early stages, but today the nonprofit treats 300 patients a day — more than 15,000 a year — from all corners of Pasco.
Gulfside’s efforts were recently recognized by the Pasco County Commission with a special resolution honoring it as one of the top charitable groups in the area.
“By winning this award, we hope hospice awareness in the community will increase,” said Gulfside chief executive officer Linda Ward. “Our team and staff are dedicated end-of-life professionals providing very essential care to all of our patients and their loved ones.”
Pasco Commissioner Jack Mariano presented the resolution to Gulfside.
“It’s a special group,” Mariano said. “All they do is help people in their hardest time. I congratulate them for everything they do.”
Ward said she was “overjoyed” with the resolution.
“The interdisciplinary approach to hospice is the core of what we do,” Ward said. “Our doctors, and nurses, and chaplains, aids, volunteers and everyone work together. The mission is to serve patients who have chronic illness and life-threatening situations. The crux of hospice care is to alleviate pain and provide comfort while assisting in the quality of life. Everyone here believes in that and it’s a very heart-felt approach to serving our population.”
The care extends past the patient.
“It’s the family and loved ones as well,” Ward said. “It’s a holistic approach and it takes a lot of coordination to handle all that. Listening to all the needs and alleviating stress and pain so they can spend the rest of the time they have left with the people they love. It’s really wonderful to watch.”
Ward has been with Gulfside for seven years and has seen the organization grow into what it is today.
“When I started we had just 50 patients and just the New Port Richey center,” Ward said. “At that time, hospice really started to grow as did our understanding of everything it takes to help our patients. People needed more training to understand those clinical approaches we use. We started partnering with the hospitals and nursing homes and then started building our own free-standing in-patient facilities for intense care.”
The newest free-standing site was the Zephyrhills location, which opened in February 2010. Today, Gulfside has six locations for hospice and bereavement services, along with five thrift shops designed to raise money to pay for care provided.
Ward said it’s the more than 250 employees and 550 volunteers who make Gulfside’s efforts possible.
“It’s not always easy working in hospice care,” Ward said. “My job is to nurture our staff because there are days when we may have 10 deaths, but on the other end there are the people they help each day.”
Ward said the future of Gulfside is learning how to continue offering end-of-life care in a changing healthcare industry.
“The goal is to keep the hospice industry stable because a lot of things are changing with new regulations starting up,” Ward said. “We’re at a really crucial time. We’re being audited and looked at very strictly by all the Medicare and Medicaid services. Some of the scrutiny is getting more intense, so we’re preparing for the future of care. The second goal is to continue to partner with more and new hospitals and retirement homes to offer more people this kind of care.”
For more information about Gulfside Regional Hospice, call (727) 845-5707 or visit www.GRHospice.org.
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