Dear Friends,
St. Anthony’s Hospice is beginning our first fundraising campaign in a very long time. Why now?
Since 1982, St. Anthony’s has served our community extremely well! We provide quality end-of-life care for individuals in Henderson, Union, and Webster counties. For the third year in a row, we have earned the Hospice Honors Elite Designation, recognizing the top 2% of hospices in the nation providing exemplary care to patients and families.
Based on feedback from our community, we realized more support was needed in the years before hospice care for seriously ill people and after the loss of a loved one. So, we started our palliative care program in 2019 and expanded our bereavement program by adding a full-time bereavement counselor in 2021. Both programs have grown exponentially. However, unlike hospice care, these programs are not funded by Medicare.
In addition, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical staffing costs have increased by 29%. This is significant because 80% of our costs are direct patient care. However, Medicare reimbursement for hospice services has only increased by 8.6%. The need and cost of hospice care continue to grow.
We find ourselves asking for development dollars to maintain this standard of excellent care by reconnecting with our foundational community support to deliver exceptional results. Would you consider committing to giving a regular donation over the next three years? This is a powerful way to provide sustained support and lasting impact.
Thank you for supporting our mission:
Quality in life.
Dignity in death.
Support in bereavement.
We are grateful,
Kendra Marsh
Executive Director
