Hospice of San Angelo Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Community Care

Hospice of San Angelo (HOSA) is celebrating the 30^th anniversary of their conception today.

According to executive director Gina Councilman, the organization’s mission is to provide peace, dignity and comfort to all patients with a life-limiting illness.

“We go into patients’ homes or wherever they’re living [such as] nursing facilities, even sometimes in the hospital and take care of them,” Councilman said.

HOSA provides nursing and chaplain care for their patients. HOSA a nonprofit organization, so Medicare or Medicaid will be billed for services provided for patients. If patients don’t have insurance, they receive services free of charge. Councilman said that patients “will never receive a bill from us.”

Along with caring for a patient’s physical and medical needs, HOSA also also provides bereavement care for both patients and their families according to HOSA director of nursing Laura Blaylock.

“We also support the family for at least 13 months after the patient has passed,” Councilman said. “If they need our services after that, we’ll continue that as well.”

Blaylock said HOSA’s bereavement center not only provides services for hospice patients and their families, but to the local community as a whole.

“I think it’s a ministry, not only to the patients, but to the patients’ [families],” Councilman said. “It’s such a hard stage in life for both [parties], but I think we help ease that transition as much as possible and make it peaceful and comfortable.”

Patients are generally referred to HOSA through doctors whenever they are diagnosed with a terminal illness. Family members occasionally call and refer next of kin whenever they require hospice services. HOSA then contacts the doctor and receives the information needed to determine if a patient is eligible for their care.

Councilman encourages those who require HOSA’s  services to visit their website or call their office at (325) 658-6524. The office is open 8-5, but an answering service will be provided when the office is closed.

According to Councilman, HOSA was conceived by the Junior League of San Angelo. It took two years for the Junior League to start up the organization and Councilman said that many board members assisted with the process.

The program began with only volunteers rather than employees. The organization now employs the services of social workers, nurses, dietary consultants, physical therapy consultants, bereavement councilors, an on staff pharmacist, a medical director and a nurse practitioner.

“I think it speaks volumes that [HOSA] has made it for 30 years,” Councilman said. “There’s a lot of hospices that come up quickly and work for the profit, but us being a nonprofit organization, we’ve really relied on community support during all these years. I think it says a lot for everyone’s involvement that has gotten us to this point.”