News from the Noteworthy from Helios Care
Helios Addresses Growth, Expansion Hurdles
As the demand for palliative care and hospice services continues to rise while New York State’s population ages, rural hospice organizations find themselves at a crossroads, balancing the need to expand their reach with the unique challenges that come with growth. In the heart of upstate New York, Helios Care is tackling these hurdles head-on, striving to ensure quality end-of-life care remains accessible to all in the communities we serve.
One of the foremost challenges facing rural hospices is the sheer geography. Unlike their urban counterparts, rural hospices often cover vast areas, requiring extensive logistical planning to reach patients in remote locations. The challenge is inherently greater, given the rural, mountainous and cell-limited nature of our region. Navigating the vast distances between patients’ homes presents a significant challenge, and ensuring timely access to care while maintaining the highest standards is a balancing act with which we constantly grapple. With the new Department of Health waiver, allowing us to service patients in Chenango and Herkimer counties, this challenge has grown.
Additionally, the recruiting and retaining of skilled healthcare professionals poses ongoing challenges for rural hospices. Growth is a challenge for any organization, and when faced with a labor shortage in an already shallow labor pool, well, let the challenges keep coming. Helios Care loves a challenge. While our team is incredibly dedicated, recruiting new talent remains an ongoing concern, as hospice care requires a unique set of skills, so we’re actively exploring innovative recruitment strategies and investing in continuing education opportunities to bolster our workforce.
Helios Care is carefully growing staff to serve our new communities to ensure we continue to provide the highest quality of service in a timely manner. Typically, we can provide care on the same day or within 24 hours, and that is our expectation. Our clinical quality scores are among the highest in the nation, and that is what we always strive to achieve. So, we are slowly reaching out to our new communities and patients, first along the borders of our former service area, where many times in the past we had to decline service due to an arbitrary county line. Today we are accepting them. We are currently handling referrals on a case-by-case basis, as we hate to say we are not yet ready, and let our ability to only provide the highest level of care be our criteria.
Financial constraints further compound the growth dilemma for rural hospices. Serving a predominantly rural population often means reduced philanthropic support from individuals and corporations compared to urban areas. Helios Care is no stranger to these financial pressures. Maintaining financial stability while expanding services is a delicate dance. We rely heavily on community support and strategic partnerships to bridge the gap and ensure our services remain accessible to all who need them.
Despite these challenges, Helios Care remains committed to its mission of “making life easier for patients and families facing serious illness and end of life by providing choices, dignity, and compassionate care.” Helios Care is always engaged in efforts to improve the care for our aging communities and to allow for our citizens and patients to age in place in their own homes—where they want to be. Through innovative solutions such as the Bassett Healthcare Network collaboration and working with other community agencies to provide the best services when residents need them, and unwavering dedication, Helios Care continues to navigate the complexities of growth while striving to provide world-class care every time. For more information about our services and how you can support our work, visit our website, www.helioscare.org.
Dan Ayres is president and chief executive officer of Helios Care.