Ohio Hospice LifeCare awarded Gold Seal

Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Home Care Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a health care organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care.

The organization underwent an unannounced onsite review Aug. 16-19. A team of Joint Commission reviewers evaluated compliance with home care standards spanning several areas including infection control, information management, leadership, life safety, medication management, record of care and plan of care.

The Joint Commission’s standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. The surveyors also conducted onsite observations and interviews.

“As a private accreditor, The Joint Commission surveys health care organizations to protect the public by identifying deficiencies in care and working with those organizations to correct them as quickly and sustainably as possible,” said Mark Pelletier, RN, MS, chief operating officer, Accreditation and Certification Operations, and chief nursing executive, The Joint Commission. “We commend Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare for its continuous quality improvement efforts in patient safety and quality of care.”

Kurt Holmes, executive director of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, recognized the staff of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare for their dedication to excellence.

“Accreditation from The Joint Commission honors the hard work and dedication of our staff to provide superior care and superior services to our patients and families through patient safety and quality of care,” Holmes said. “We’re grateful to our staff for their support of our mission as we went through this process. They have worked together to demonstrate our commitment to compliance standards.”

Buehler’s raises record funds to support American Heart Association

For the fourth year in a row, Buehler’s Fresh Foods joined the fight against heart disease and stroke by supporting the American Heart Association. From Sept. 18-Oct. 15, Buehler’s participated in the AHA’s fundraising campaign, Life Is Why. Life Is Why inspires consumers to celebrate their reasons to live healthier, longer lives – by giving. At the register, the company asked customers to donate $1, $5 or $10, raising a record $56,498.

“The generosity of our customers and the hard work of our employees is what made this campaign year a success,” said Mike Davidson, CEO of Buehler’s and co-chair of the 2022 Wayne Heart Walk. “We would like to thank our customers for contributing to this life-saving cause.  By working together, we can make a difference in the lives of the people we know who are impacted by heart disease and stroke.”

Buehler’s donation supports the 2022 Wayne Heart Walk Campaign, which has raised over $203,000 thanks to Davidson, co-chair Jen Kessel of Aultman Orrville Hospital, and the 2022 Wayne Heart Walk Executive Leadership Team. The dollars raised allow the American Heart Association to continue to fund research that can improve the health outcomes of heart and stroke patients, train more than 2.5 million high school students in CPR annually and support the work of local entrepreneurs and organizations working to improve health outcomes in under-resourced communities.

More than 1,700 Wayne County residents died of heart disease between 2014-2019. Currently, more than 30% of Wayne County residents have been diagnosed with high cholesterol, another 19% have high blood pressure, 36% are obese and 22% use tobacco – all health risk factors for heart disease.

“These numbers are staggering,” said Jenn Fortney, senior development director of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the American Heart Association. “But, the community, through the American Heart Association, is fighting back. This year, locally, the American Heart Association will provide nutrition education to elementary Wooster City School students, continue to provide blood pressure monitors and best practices for community loaner programs, and equip the Wayne YMCA and local schools with CPR training materials and curriculum for student training to meet state requirements. All of this is possible because of donations like those through the Life is Why campaign.”

In addition to contributing to save lives through Buehler’s, donations can be made directly to the American Heart Association at www.heart.org/wayneheartwalk. To learn more about the Life Is Why™ campaign and other participating companies, please visit www.heart.org/lifeiswhy.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Ohio's Hospice earns Gold Seal, Buehler's raises fund for AHA