Kathy Wolf and Patricia Prutzman, both retired geriatric nurses, first met in nursing school in the 1970s, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois.
- Ohio: Belmont Community Hospital (BCH) last week announced it will close on April 5, after 105 years of providing care. The hospital, which was established in 1914, in a press release said utilization of the hospital had declined, which had "place[d] a financial strain on the [hospital] that cannot be sustained in the long term." The six health centers that currently operate under BCH will remain open (Ellison, Becker's Hospital CFO Report, 2/13).
- Pennsylvania: When retired geriatric nurse Kathy Wolf heard that her friend Patricia Prutzman, a fellow retired geriatric nurse, was dying from cancer, Wolf rushed to Prutzman's side and ultimately provided her with end-of-life care for more than six weeks. Wolf helped Prutzman accomplish some of items on her bucket list, as well as a few more practical tasks that needed to be completed before Prutzman passed. "The fact that Kathy came to help us and dedicated that much time and love for her lifelong friend is so rare and beautiful," said Prutzman's daughter-in-law Christa, adding, "She's, in a word, amazing" (Lynch, Reading Eagle, 2/14).
- Illinois: Iroquois Memorial Hospital and Riverside Healthcare have cut off their formal merger discussions about four months after signing a letter of intent to merge. The hospitals will continue to collaborate to continue "serv[ing] the community" of Iroquois county, according to Riverside President and CEO Phil Kambic (Ellison, Becker's Hospital Review, 2/14).
Next, get URMC's end-of-life conversation prompts
When it comes to end-of-life care, most organizations struggle to meet patients' needs. In a recent poll, 87% of Americans age 65 and older said that they believe their doctor should discuss end-of-life issues with their patients; however, only 27% of those polled had actually discussed these issues with their doctor.
Download URMC's conversation prompts to start improving end-of-life care for patients.