Thanks, Diana, for joining us on Ocean State Stories. HopeHealth has served so many people over the years that our audience surely will recognize the name. But you have agreed to take a deep dive into you and your organization that will prove informative. Let’s start with you. Where were you brought up and educated?
I was brought up in Walpole, Massachusetts, about 20 minutes from the Rhode Island border. My father was a salesman, and I have fond childhood memories of him bringing home spinach pies whenever he had been out to visit his customers in Rhode Island. A fabulous treat for our family!
In terms of my education, I received both my undergraduate degree and an MBA from Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and subsequently became a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives.
When did hospice and palliative care begin to interest you?
To tell you the truth, before I really knew what hospice and palliative care was, it didn’t interest me. In fact, in 2007 when I originally received a recruiting call about a leadership position at HopeHealth (then known as Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island), my first reaction was to decline. I thought, “That’s all about death and dying,” and hung up! Luckily, about ten minutes later I came to my senses and called the recruiter back to learn more about the organization. It was the best call I ever made!
I am so passionate about our mission of helping families at such a vulnerable time in their lives. This work has given me such meaning and purpose in life. When I think about how I found my way to HopeHealth, I am filled with gratitude.
And when did you become president and CEO of HopeHealth?
I joined HopeHealth in 2007 and became CEO in 2008.
We see on the HopeHealth website that you “facilitated an academic affiliation to become the major teaching affiliate for hospice and palliative medicine of the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.” Please elaborate.
In many ways, HopeHealth and Brown University’s medical school have always been partners. Actually, HopeHealth was founded by two leaders at Brown: The Founding Dean of the Medical School, Dr. Stanley Aronson, and the Reverend Charlie Baldwin, the Chaplain of Brown University. They heard about the hospice movement in the early 70s, and subsequently co-founded HopeHealth in 1976 as the 2nd hospice in the nation.
Over time, the long-standing partnership became an official academic affiliation, with HopeHealth named the major teaching affiliate for hospice and palliative medicine of the Warren Alpert Medical School.
Through this academic relationship, HopeHealth is helping to shape how the next generation of physicians approach serious illness and end-of-life care. Medical students, interns, residents and fellows rotate with our hospice and palliative care teams and gain hands-on experience caring for patients. Teaching is an especially important part of our work because too many clinicians do not feel equipped to have effective and compassionate conversations with their patients as they become seriously ill. We teach them how to really listen to their patients and support them and their families through their most difficult journey.
We also see that you “established hospice and palliative care partnerships with health care systems, nursing homes, home health agencies and payers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.” Again, tell us more.
Serious illness care can make such a difference for patients and families, but many people don’t know it exists, or how or where to ask for it. By creating these deep partnerships in the community, we can change that. We make this care accessible to patients and families when and where they need it, often working side by side with the care teams they already know and trust.
Of course, this is not just about convenience or accessibility. It’s also about quality of care. We have always seen that hospice and palliative care work best when fully integrated into the broader health care system. We have spent years building strong relationships with health care providers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to make sure that is the case for our community. We want to ensure that patients and their families feel supported as they seamlessly transition to palliative care or hospice.
OK, now that deep dive into HopeHealth! Please start with hospice care. HopeHealth provides it at home and inpatient, and has specialties in veterans’ services, spiritual support and social work, among others. Can you give us an overview?
Hospice is about helping people live as comfortably and fully as possible during the final stage of their life. It is also about supporting their family, which is quite unique in health care.
Most of our hospice patients are cared for in whatever setting they call home – it may be their own home, an apartment, assisted living or in a nursing home. Home is where people want to be when they are seriously ill. We also operate the Hulitar Hospice Center in Providence, a 30-bed inpatient center for individuals who need more intensive care. The Hulitar is a special place where patients receive individualized, warm, friendly and expert care from our physicians, nurses, aides, social workers, chaplains and volunteers. It’s a facility that was built with families in mind, too. Often families want to spend as much time as possible with their loved ones in this final journey, and we try to make it as comfortable for the families as it is for the patients.
Every patient we care for has a team that works together to provide the highest quality medical care, emotional and spiritual support, and guidance for families. We have a team of wonderful volunteers who visit with patients and families all the time, providing things like companion services and pet therapy.
Now, palliative care. What is it and how do you provide it?
I’m so glad you asked! Many people confuse palliative care with hospice — in part because both specialties are related to one another, and because they do share key similarities. But in truth, palliative care is its own medical specialty, which is different from end-of-life care.
Palliative care is for anyone living with a serious illness, at any stage of that illness. That means that individuals can receive our palliative care services from the moment they are diagnosed with a potentially serious illness, even if they are still receiving curative treatment.
Serious illnesses often come with complicated symptoms, and sometimes very difficult treatment decisions. The purpose of palliative care is to manage pain and symptoms and help patients make the most informed decisions about their care to live better for longer. Everyone’s care looks different, because we aim to support our patients and their families by taking the time to understand each individual, their values and what matters most to them. Palliative care works with the patient’s existing health care team as well. Our experts are known for coordinating care across a patient’s many doctors and specialists, which both patients and care teams love.
And caregiver and grief support. Again, an overview please.
Caring for a loved one who is seriously ill can be enormously rewarding but it is also, inevitably, incredibly challenging. Our team is often as focused on the wellbeing of caregivers as they are the patients because caregiving can be isolating and exhausting. We offer caregiver support groups, workshops and courses to provide a safe space for loved ones to navigate their unique journeys among their peers.
This support continues after a loss, and we try to meet people wherever they are in their grief journey. Loved ones reengage with us through support groups, talking-one-on-one with a counselor or attending our remembrance events.
I am particularly inspired by one of our programs, Camp BraveHeart, which we offer for children and teens who have lost someone in their lives. For a few days each summer, kids connect with other children who are also impacted by loss and grief. The program offers a mix of therapeutic and traditional camp activities, allowing time for the kids to remember their loved ones, talk about their grief and learn new coping skills while also making friends, laughing and playing games.
What is the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Program?
This program fits in with our efforts to support caregivers in the community. It is designed to support people who are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.
Because of the way that dementia progresses, these caregivers often face unique changes. We are here to help them navigate that. We connect them with educational resources, like informational classes to answer common questions, and practical tools, like referrals to dementia-focused programs in the community. We also offer emotional support through free support group communities and one-on-one check-ins with our staff. The program is free and open to the public.
How about the educational programs Hope Health offers?
In addition to our partnership with Brown University’s medical school, HopeHealth aims to be a resource for clinicians and health care professionals everywhere. We know that we have a special responsibility to spread the word about hospice and palliative care. We know we can help our health care community feel more confident and empowered in how they provide this care, and even just in how they explain it to patients or peers.
To do all this, we offer year-round free training for health care professionals in the community. Many training courses are virtual, and most offer educational credits for clinicians.
This includes a full-day training called Complex Care Conversations, which helps clinicians have important conversations sooner, more frequently, and more meaningfully with their patients. This is such a crucial part of serious illness care. Attendees consistently tell us how valuable this training has been for them and their patients.
What are the Wall of Gratitude and Memorial Garden?
The Wall of Gratitude and the Memorial Garden are both physical spaces at HopeHealth intended to honor the lives and memories of those who are no longer with us. I am reminded every day of the impact of our work when I walk past the wall or through the garden.
Where in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts does HopeHealth have centers and programs?
HopeHealth serves patients throughout Rhode Island and across a broad geography in Massachusetts, including Bristol, Norfolk and Plymouth counties. Our teams provide interdisciplinary care to patients in their homes, assisted living residences, nursing homes and hospitals.
Tell us about your Board of Directors. This page has the full list, but please give us an overview. It seems to be a diverse cross-section of people.
We are lucky to have a board made up of really thoughtful and engaged people from a wide range of fields that is united by a shared commitment to our work. Their guidance is invaluable as we plan for the future while navigating through the challenges facing our health care system.
When we read obituaries, we frequently see requests to donate to HopeHealth. Is this an affirmation of the quality of services you offer?
I am personally moved every time a family chooses to honor their loved one by asking for memorial donations to HopeHealth. For me, it demonstrates that our care made a difference. It is one of the most meaningful forms of feedback that we can receive. Those donations help us continue to provide the highest quality of care for more families in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Finally, anything new we can expect in the future from HopeHealth?
Next year, 2026, marks our 50th anniversary! When you consider how young the fields of hospice and palliative care are in the U.S. — formally established in the 1970s and 2012, respectively — this is quite a milestone.
Over the past half-century, HopeHealth has been a trailblazer for serious illness care. As we look to the future, we take that legacy seriously. We want our organization and our community to thrive, but we also have a role in helping the fields of hospice and palliative care thrive on a broader scale. As the population ages, and as medical advances make it possible for more people than ever to live with serious illness, this type of care is more crucial than ever. We will continue to be its fiercest advocate.
