jackie lopez-devine
hospice of palm beach county, chief clinical officer 5300 East Ave., West Palm Beach 561/848-5200 • hpbc.com
scarlett barsky there4u, founder
888/974-8988 • there4u.biz
The more than 70,000 families who have relied on Hospice of Palm Beach County and Hospice of Broward County (HPBC/HOBC) have experienced first-hand the high- quality care and support services for which the organization is known. Jackie Lopez-Devine is the guiding force behind those efforts. She is the role model HPBC/HOBC nursing teams look to. “Providing high-quality care to patients and families requires a complex structure with many moving parts, all of which must integrate seamlessly,” says Lopez-Devine. “My job is to ensure that structure works every day for our teams.” To manage her responsibilities, she draws on her experience in nursing administration, healthcare policy and clinical research. “Our caregiving teams encompass about 30 physicians and 600 nurses, plus chaplains to address multi-denominational spiritual needs and social workers for the psychosocial and financial components,” Lopez-Devine says. Furthermore, Hospice of Palm Beach County/Hospice of Broward County is the only hospice in the region that provides complex case management, which means that “we can do things here that are outside the Medicare benefit, at our own cost,” Lopez-Devine says, including advanced palliative treatments. “We help patients live every day of their lives to the fullest,” she says.
Nobody should feel alone. That’s the compassion behind THERE4U, a provider of medical companions who offer support and services for clients. The idea came to Scarlett Barsky when she was living in Philadelphia and needed a medical procedure. Because it required anesthesia, she couldn’t drive herself home, and the law forbade her from taking a taxi. New to the area, she didn’t have anyone to help. “I felt so alone,” she recalls. That’s why she founded THERE4U, which just expanded to Florida. Scarlett selects medical companions who are kindhearted, trustworthy and sophisticated. She then carefully matches companion and client. “Companions are best friend or family member surrogates,” she says. “They bond with patients.” Medical companions, many of whom are nurses, provide services such as transportation to and from surgical procedures or physician visits; taking appointment notes; post-op care; communicating with loved ones; and more. THERE4U is available from Fort Lauderdale to Palm Beach, and Scarlett hopes to expand statewide. “I’d like to cover as large of an area as possible and make sure everybody has somebody when they need it,” she says.
Women in Business 2014 • Special Advertising Section