Richmond Bon Secours Program Wins National Award

Richmond’s Bon Secours Palliative Medicine program has been awarded the national 2016 Circle of Life Award that celebrates Palliative and end of life care.

The program was one of three around the country to receive the honor at a July 18 ceremony in San Diego, California.

“This year’s Circle of Life honorees have made great advancements in incorporating palliative and end-of-life care into all aspects of care, from primary to specialty, and into the community,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “We are honored to recognize these organizations, which have found new ways to work innovatively with compassion and dedication for their patients and communities.”

A selection committee reviewed and site-visited nominations for the awards.

The Circle of Life Award honors palliative programs that:

• Serve people with life-limiting illness, their families and their communities;
• Demonstrate effective, patient/family-centered, timely, safe, efficient and equitable palliative and end-of-life care;
• Use innovative approaches to meet critical needs and serve as sustainable, replicable models for a segment of the field;
• Pursue quality improvement consistent with the National Consensus Project Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, NHPCO Standards of Practice for Hospice Programs or other widely-accepted standards, within their resources and capabilities;
• Address medical, psychosocial, spiritual and cultural needs throughout the disease trajectory;
• Use innovative approaches to reach traditionally marginalized populations;
• Actively partner with other health care organizations, education and training programs, the community, providers of care, and/or insurers; and
• Use metrics that demonstrate significant impact and value for individuals, families and communities.

For more information on the Circle of Life Award, visit aha.org.