Two senior living companies are joining forces on a new effort to expand hospice care in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
The two companies, Judson Senior Living and McGregor Senior Living, have formed a new venture called Hospice of Greater Cleveland. The new venture aims to help both companies better serve demand for hospice services. Collectively, the companies support more than 1500 people and their families in Northeast Ohio.
“Our focus is serving the four campus locations and our community individuals in the PACE program or Judson at Home membership program,” Ann Conn, McGregor President and CEO, told Senior Housing News Wednesday. “We are hoping to expand hopice services to include the greater community as our partnership evolves.”
The operators have been long-time collaborators. Each company had been running their own hospice programs within their facilities, which they have now combined through the JV.
Discussions about a potential joint venture began earlier this year, and the two companies moved quickly to bring it to fruition, according to Conn.
“[Judson CEO Kendra Urdzik] and I have known each other for some time and have worked previously together. In the first year of the pandemic, when staffing was a big concern, we started working together on recruiting and training,” Conn told Senior Housing News’ sister site, Hospice News. “It kind of led into other collaborations, which we’re doing with two other nonprofits here in Cleveland. So that’s how we started working together.”
The two nonprofits each launched their individual hospice programs in the same year, with a focus on ensuring continuity of care within their senior living communities. Judson’s program cared for an average of eight to 15 patients at a time, whereas McGregor’s was somewhat larger with 12 to 20 individuals receiving services, Urdzik indicated.
By joining forces, the newly formed Hospice of Greater Cleveland will in time be able to expand beyond the confines of the companies’ facilities and provide care in the surrounding communities.
“We can do this better together with combining our two smaller entities and really forming a cohesive group and taking the best of what we both do, bringing our teams together to form truly a full service hospice program that could not only serve the residents on our campuses, but grow into the community,” Urdzik told SHN sister site Hospice News.
Senior Housing News Senior Editor Tim Regan also provided reporting and writing for this story.
The post Nonprofit Senior Living Operators Join Forces for Hospice Program appeared first on Senior Housing News.
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