2016 Above & Beyond Award Winners

Hospice Care Plus honored four Above and Beyond Award recipients at its annual dinner. From left: Carlos Coyle and Ron Jackson with Madison County EMS, Rebecca Miller of Marcum and Wallace Memorial Hospital, Emogene Hogg-Hartman of Hogg Rentals, and Arielle Estes, Trena Stocker, and Susan Starling, all with Marcum and Wallace. Not pictured: Doctors Callie Shaffer and Sarah Oliver of Rockcastle Pediatrics.

Hospice Care Plus presented four Above and Beyond awards at its 2016 annual dinner on December 13. This year’s recipients are:

• Hogg Rentals, Berea
• Madison County EMS, Richmond
• Marcum and Wallace Memorial Hospital, Irvine
• Rockcastle Pediatrics, Mt. Vernon

The awards are given each year to civic groups, non-profits, churches, businesses or other organizations that go to great lengths to support the mission of Hospice Care Plus and its patients and families.

Hogg Rentals was honored for its generous support of hospice care, especially in terms of financial contributions. Emogene Hogg-Hartman, who accepted the award for Hogg Rentals, was thanked not only for supporting Hospice Care Plus financially, but also for her hard work as a volunteer on a fundraising event committee. The award presentation acknowledged the longevity of the Hogg-Hartman family’s and Hogg Rentals’ support of the organization, and the care and services made possible by that support.

Madison County EMS was recognized for its outstanding support of patients and families, especially when special wishes are involved that could not be met without their help. When presenting the award, Hospice Care Plus cited two recent examples: helping a patient get safely into the bell tower at Berea College to play the carillon, and loaning a stretcher so a patient could comfortably watch “To Joey, with Love” at the local theater. Carlos Coyle, director, and Ron Jackson, assistant director, accepted the award, and were thanked for always saying “yes” when hospice calls.

Marcum and Wallace Memorial Hospital was chosen for its thoughtful support of hospice care generally, and specifically in its community. In presenting the award, Hospice Care Plus cited the staff’s diverse involvement in hospice care, from helping with fundraisers and publicly advocating for hospice care to ensuring their patients have access to hospice services and to dignity, quality of life, compassion, and pain and symptom management. Hospice applauded the hospital and its staff for strengthening hospice and end-of-life care in its community, ensuring that every moment of life matters. On-hand to accept the award were Susan Starling, CEO; Trena Stocker, chief nursing officer; Arielle Estes, director of network development and foundation; and Rebecca Miller, care coordinator.

Rockcastle Pediatrics was thanked for its essential support of pediatric patients served by Hospice Care Plus. The Mt. Vernon-based practice provides two physicians, doctors Callie Shaffer and Sarah Oliver, to serve as medical directors for hospice’s youngest patients. They make themselves available 24/7 to oversee medical care, participate in care team meetings, write orders for prescriptions, and help design plans of care that promote quality of life and pain and symptom management. In presenting the award, Hospice Care Plus noted that, without the support of Rockcastle Pediatrics, its staff, and doctors Shaffer and Oliver, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to provide care for pediatric hospice patients and their families.

Our thanks and congratulations to each of the 2016 Above and Beyond Award recipients.