Hospice of Fayette County is partnering with Ohio’s Hospice, officials announced this week, and is expanding services for patients in Fayette County.

The partnership became official Jan. 1.

Hospice of Fayette County will maintain its locality and services already provided to Fayette County patients, but the new partnership will allow the small non-profit to bring a variety of additional resources to patients in Fayette County.

Hospice of Fayette County Interim Executive Director and Patient Care Coordinator Tammy Bobbitt said she is excited for the partnership and noted that the expansion of services will include crisis care. With crisis care, Hospice of Fayette County will be able to send a staff member to stay bedside with the patient anywhere from eight to 24 hours a day.

“If the family needs us, we can be there and we can stay there now. This is excellent for the family and we can be in the home with the patient or the care center or assisted living facility,” said Bobbitt during an interview this week. “It’s going to make us stronger by affiliating with another larger non-profit. We can pull from their resources.”

Pulling in more resources will include more visits, therapy, palliative treatments, and a larger human resources department, said Bobbitt.

Hospice patients with cancer and chronic muscular diseases will be able to experience massage therapy.

Spiritual care, respiratory therapy, massage therapy, occupational, bereavement, and art therapies will be included in services to patients. She added that pet therapy, music therapy, and aromatherapy are also on the list of added benefits coming to patients in Fayette County with the new partnership to Ohio’s Hospice.

Hospice of Fayette County currently has under 20 patients, said Bobbitt, but the agencies would like to build its census. The agency has had as many as 54 patients at one time in the past.

Hospice of Fayette County is a locally-based non-profit that began in 1987. The hospice is accredited by The Joint Commission.

Bobbitt said that it competes with for-profit hospice organizations, which can typically provide more services than a small non-profit. It’s funding comes from Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurances, and uses community donations and local fundraisers to offset any gaps in reimbursement through insurance policies.

Ohio’s Hospice was established much later, in 2013, and became a collaboration among Hospice of Dayton, Hospice of Butler & Warren Counties and Hospice of Miami County, officials said. Today, Ohio’s Hospice also includes partnerships with Hospice of Central Ohio, Community Mercy Hospice, LifeCare Hospice, and Community Care Hospice in Wilmington.

‘“The affiliates of Ohio’s Hospice together set the standard for end-of-life care in the state,” said Ohio’s Hospice Board Chair Greg Toman. “Our shared expertise and commitment to quality are evident in the sheer number of resources devoted to patient care, not to making a profit where many competitors focus.”

By partnering this year with Ohio’s Hospice, the Hospice of Fayette County will be an affiliate to the other hospices in the network, and be able to share resources. Bobbitt said if one agency needs a nurse or aide to fill-in, the agency can call Ohio’s Hospice to request an employee.

The new partnership also provides Hospice of Fayette County staff members with their own insurance and retirement benefits, which Bobbitt said is “huge” for the 18 to 20 staff members that are currently working at the agency.

Hospice of Fayette received the Hospice Honors program 2016, a program that measures the quality of hospice agencies based on caregivers’ feedback of the agency’s performance.

Officials said Hospice of Fayette County will be able to schedule more visits and direct care to patients at home and at extended care facilities, assisted living facilities, hospice houses and hospital in-patient settings.

“Our board and staff are excited to be affiliating with Ohio’s Hospice,” said Hospice of Fayette County Board of Directors Chair Gwynne Gibson. “With the strength of this non-profit affiliation behind us, we are confident that our ‘hometown hospice’ will be even more successful in caring for the patients we are privileged to serve. We are pleased that now we will not only be Hospice of Fayette County, and also a part of this strong and caring mission-driven organization.”