Berkleigh Allen, an East Bladen High School graduate has been a part of the local community for many years. Her heart was to establish local hospice that would make a difference for families with loved ones who are transitioning.
LOCAL HOSPICE CARE
BLADEN COUNTY – The last chapter of life is always the hardest to walk with a loved one who is transitioning.
As the quality of life and the life expectancy has risen, so have the challenges to have enough facilities and caregivers to accommodate. Hospice is perhaps one of the most challenging.
A new a local arm of Amedisys has come to Bladen County and taking the lead on bringing their services is Berkleigh Allen, an East Bladen High School graduate who has always had a heart for her community.
“Our company was founded in 1982,” Allen said. “We’ve been around a very long time. We just have not had much of a full presence here in Bladen County. We have care centers all over the United States – but the most local ones are in Pembroke and Bolivia, North Carolina. With hospice we all work remotely. Our nurses are a part of our clinical team. They come from ‘wherever to wherever’ really. I wanted to put it out that we have a presence here, we are fully staffed to come and serve the residents of Bladen.”
Amedisys Hospice Care has an interdisciplinary team that they use with all of their hospice patients. They currently have 22 amazing nurses that work with their care center in Pembroke and they are actively recruiting and accepting new volunteer applications.
A unique and important differentiator for Amedisys is the MUSE clinical support tool. It compiles data from nursing visits and has assisted the company in achieving their best in class 80% HVLDL quality score measure – far outpacing the national average of 47%- for hospice visits in the last days of life. With the help of MUSE- they can increase the frequency of visits to ensure they are present in those last sacred moments of a patient’s life.
They also offer up to 13 months of bereavement counseling for the family of the deceased if they choose to partake. Just another way in which that their hospice service is a beautiful thing.
Personally, Allen is hoping to have a strong local connection.
“I have been embedded in this community my entire life and care deeply for our residents,” she said. “After patients pass away, I likely will still see and have contact with their loved ones in passing just by nature of our small town. Everyone knows everyone. Having the opportunity to be invited into one of the most vulnerable life experiences a family can have is something I value to the greatest extent- as I too have been in their shoes and remember well all of the emotions that come with it.
One of the most common phrases heard in perhaps one of the hardest roads you will have to walk in life is, “We wish we would have known about hospice sooner.” The stats show that for every eligible patient who receives hospice each year, there’s another eligible patient who doesn’t receive even a single day. This is in spirt of the fact that hospice is 100% covered by Medicare and most Medicaid and commercial insurance plans.
As a fully covered Medicare benefit, hospice includes coverage for medications and supplies related to the life-limiting illness.
It’s a very personal and intimate time in a family’s life for providing this kind of health care, and Allen says that she can relate as she has gone through some painful times right here in Bladen County with her loved ones.
“I’ve prayed for a long time for God to put me somewhere where I was making some kind of difference for His kingdom,” Allen said. “I feel like I am able to do that here. What are our days worth if we’re not filling them with His work? I get the opportunity to pray with these families if they want that and it’s very special.”
There may be a lot of great hospice leaders in the state, but we have one who wears her heart on her sleeve and has the ability to make a difference with local families. She is a part of a well-established veteran company who is successful because of a proven track record and literally tens of thousands of testimonies of the special care they take – becoming a part of the patient’s family.
It seems from hearing the testimonies and reports that this company doesn’t provide just employees, but they graft in family members.
If you are need of a hospice service or are heading in that direction, you can contact Allen personally at 910-857-1121.