Annual Report 2023 A
YEAR OF TRANSITION
It is when we are in transition that we are most completely alive.
– William Bridges
Mission, Vision, Core Values
As a community-based, non-profit agency, Montgomery Hospice, Inc. provides expert, compassionate services for people living with advanced illnesses, including hospice and palliative care. Our goal is to promote quality of life for both the patient and the family.
Mission
To gentle the journey through serious illness and loss with skill and compassion.
Vision
To bring comfort by providing the best care to our community's multicultural residents who are facing serious illness and loss. To be the best workplace for staff and volunteers.
Core Values
• Unconditional Compassion: Compassionate care, partnered with professional excellence, is the heart of our service.
• Dignity of the Dying: We affirm the right of our patients to be treated with respect, and to be honored as unique individuals.
• Dedication: We are committed and privileged to ease the burdens and challenges that our patients and families face.
• Collaboration: Mutual respect, empathy, and trust unite us in providing care.
• Stewardship: We will carefully and responsibly manage resources entrusted to our care.
• Innovation: We will continually explore new ideas, services, and solutions to serve our community and position our organization as a center of clinical excellence.
Letter from the Board Chair
Dear Advocates, Healthcare Partners, Donors, and Friends:
In 2023, Ann Mitchell, MPH, the organization’s longest serving President & CEO announced her pending retirement. With that news, we began our year of transition The Board of Directors activated Montgomery Hospice, Inc.’s CEO Succession Plan. A search committee comprising of current & former Board Members began the year-long process to find and hire a successor to lead us in the next chapter of this legacy (one of the original) non-profit hospice.
While the transition process was ongoing, our staff and volunteers continued to provide expert and compassionate care for 2,538 of our seriously ill neighbors and friends, and grief and loss support for more than 3,000 of our patients' loved ones and community members. The Board of Directors is grateful to, and proud of the 290 dedicated staff and 175 caring volunteers who lend their expertise and care in service to others who are experiencing serious illness and loss. They are the embodiment of our mission, vision, and values.
Our Hospice at Home team visted and provided care for patients who needed care in their private homes or nursing facilities. For those patients who needed in-patient level of care that could not be managed at home, Casey House, our 14-bed facility in Rockville was available. This home-away-from-home community resource is a valuable alternative to an emergency room visit or hospital stay. For the youngest members of our community living with a terminal illness, our Montgomery Kids team provided specialized care and support; and for those patients who were not hospice eligible, but needed pain and symptom management, the doctors and nurse practitioners of our Palliative Medicine Consultants practice were available in clinic settings in the community and via telehealth visits.
And to you, our beloved community, thank you for the trust you placed in our team to care for your loved ones and patients. We are also grateful for the philanthropic support that allowed us to provide our ever-important uncompensated services such as Bereavement Care Services, Volunteer Services, and Complementary Therapies.
These programs are an integral part of the comprehensive care we provide. Through support groups, workshops, virtual counseling sessions, and phone calls our professional bereavement counselors assisted individuals in our community living with loss. Our highly trained volunteers supported patients through companionship visits, playing music, reading, and hosting “Tea Time” for families at Casey House. In addition, our Complementary Therapies team continued to provide our sought-after aroma, massage, and music therapies. In 2023, we provided $557,200 in charity care and uncompensated services. This is only possible due to the generosity of community members like you. Thank you; and we will continue to be good stewards of your generosity.
As we look to the future, we are excited for the next chapter of our beloved organization. Together, with you, alongside new leadership, we will continue to be a trusted resource in caring for, and supporting those in our community living with serious illness and loss.
Diane K. Kuwamura, Esq. Board Chair 2022-2024
Board of Directors
• Diane K. Kuwamura, Esq., Chair
• Dawn E. Doebler, Vice Chair
• Christopher N. Palmer, Secretary
• Justin G. Reaves, Treasurer
• Elma M. Levy, Immediate Past Chair
• Ann Mitchell, MPH, President & CEO
Life Directors
• Paul Alpuche
• Edward Hall Asher
• Beryl Feinberg
• Suzanne Firstenberg
• Arnold Kohn
• Catherine S. Leggett
• Rev. James E. Boney
• Angela Graham
• Deborah Parham Hopson, Ph.D.
• Shady Jadali
• Aja Jere Jenkins
• Francisco Nugent
• Cecilia M. Otero
• Michelle Q. Profit, Esq.
• Devang Shah
• Shobhana Sharma
• Brian McCagh
• Margaret McCaig
• Michael McCarthy
• Deborah Neipris
• Richard Pettit
• Karen Schaeffer
Treasurer’s Report
The financial standing of Montgomery Hospice Inc. (MHI) is stable. In 2023, our patient census increased by approximately 10%, and we saw positive gains in our endowment and investments. While we continue to face challenges related to the changing reimbursement landscape, we are confident in our ability to navigate these issues and strengthen MHI as we move forward.
In 2023 we continued to fulfill our mission to gentle the journey through serious illness and loss with skill and compassion by:
• Providing over $550,000 in benevolent care for the uninsured, underinsured, and other uncompensated services.
• Raising over $2,400,000 in donations, grants, and bequests to support the mission.
• Expanding our hospital partnerships to provide General Inpatient (GIP) services.
Nationally, non-profit hospices have been struggling to recover from the pandemic. Modest increases in reimbursement rates have not increased at the rate of inflation or pandemic-related expenses. Additionally, rising costs to recruit and retain qualified employees have created operational difficulties for non-profit providers. In 2023 we made significant progress identifying and managing through these challenges. While there is still work to do, we remain committed to providing quality, compassionate care and support for our patients and families, as we have for more than 43 years. The hospice industry is expected to continue to grow in the coming years. MHI is working diligently to make sure we are poised to participate in that growth and to serve as many in our community as possible.
Montgomery Hospice, Inc., remains a trusted and resilient community resource. Our Board of Directors, the Management team, our staff and our volunteers are passionately committed to providing the highest quality care. On behalf of the Board of Directors, thank you for helping us to fulfill our mission.
Justin G. Reaves Treasurer 2021-2024
Facts & Figures
746
Patients Served at Casey House
2,538 Patients Served
290 Employees
175 Volunteers
$557,200 Charity Care and Uncompensated Services
66 Veterans Served
2023 Statement of Operations
Hospice at Home
We want to thank you for all the services hospice staff and volunteers provided to my father and our family.
My father’s regular nurse was kind, helpful, and gave me the confidence I needed to be able to help my father as his condition deteriorated. Her good humor and compassion light up the room. Volunteer Services [& Complementary Therapies] people improved the quality of my dad’s time in hospice. He very much enjoyed the choir performances and the dog visits; thank you to all of your volunteers.
Your social workers’ visits were also greatly appreciated by us. They gave us the opportunity to talk through issues of concern to my father and us.
Please know that all of your efforts were appreciated.
More than anything, my father wanted to be in his own home at the end of his life. Without Montgomery Hospice [, Inc.], that would have been impossible.
Please use our donation to help with general operating support, including hospice at home and volunteer services.
Please accept this small donation in expression of our grateful appreciation of the humanity and kindness you showed to my late father and us during his hospice residency at Casey House. That we had to mobilize so quickly and unexpectedly was a real shock, but you and your staff allowed my father to rest peacefully and with little pain.
The collective care and tenderness with which you treated us was deeply comforting and allowed us to focus on Dad’s peaceful passing. This afforded us a measure of peace as well.
I have to admit that until now I had not considered how important hospice care and support is for those of us facing end-of-life practical and emotional challenges. As a result, my wife and I have become lifetime monthly givers to Montgomery Hospice [, Inc.]. Hopefully, we will live a long time so we can help pay for your kindness and support for future residents and their families.
Casey House Expressions of Gratitude
Palliative Medicine Consultants of Greater Washington (PMC)
Compassionate Care for Patients Seeking Curative Treatments
At PMC, our doctors and nurse practitioners provide expert care to chronically ill patients, ensuring their physical, emotional, and psychosocial needs are met while they pursue curative treatments. While hospice care is a form of palliative care focused on comfort during end-of-life, palliative care itself is broader and supports individuals at any stage of a chronic illness.
• 502 patients served
2023 Milestones
• Across two convenient clinic locations:
o White Oak Cancer Center, Silver Spring, MD
o Aquilino Cancer Center, Rockville, MD
• 300-400 telehealth visits
o Leveraging technology to extend care to more patients.
• Collaborative Partnerships
• Working with:
o Maryland Oncology Hematology
o Riderwood
o Brook Grove Community
o Asbury/Wilson
o Collington (Bowie)
o Adventist HealthCare Physician Alliance
Thank you to our donors!
We are deeply grateful to our donors, whose generosity and thoughtfulness make it possible for us to provide our expert and compassionate comprehensive services, including our Bereavement Care offered, free-of-charge, to the loved ones of patients and to anyone who works or lives in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
1355 Piccard Drive, Suite 100
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: (301) 921-4400
Fax: (301) 921-4433
www.montgomeryhospice.org
@MontgomeryHospiceInc
@MontHospice
@Montgomery-Hospice
