Oaklawn Hospice staff earn top national family-satisfaction award

The staff of Oaklawn Hospice are the recent recipients of a SHPBest Premier Performer family-satisfaction award for 2018, issued by Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Strategic Healthcare Programs LLC.

“This means our hospice team is in the top five percent in the nation when it comes to hospice care,” said Adrienne Solis-Sherman, MSN, RN, CHPN, who is director of Oaklawn’s home-care, hospice and wound center services. “This speaks volumes about our team and our focus on direct patient care.” 

The award was one of 133 presented to hospice organizations nationwide for the 2018 calendar year, Strategic Healthcare Programs officials said. The annual SHPBest Hospice Caregiver Satisfaction Awards are presented after an evaluation of more than 4,600 providers nationwide. The organization’s website is www.shpdata.com. 

“We’re always asking ourselves, ‘What is best for this patient and this family?’” Solis-Sherman said. “This award means that we’re ‘getting it.’” 

The awards are based on assessment data supplied by medical providers to identify and recognize organizations that have made family and caregiver satisfaction a priority. Such information is collected from families of patients based on their experiences with hospice organizations and their services. 

Oaklawn Hospice’s staff comprises 15 members who offer specialized serves in medicine, nursing, home health aid, social work, spiritual care and bereavement counseling. 

“This team is very dedicated and routinely goes above and beyond,” Solis-Sherman said. “We genuinely care about each and every one of our patients. They really matter to us. It’s part of the culture, because we have the privilege of taking care of our own community members.” 

Because of the range of skills among team members, patients and their families receive a variety of services that extend beyond physical care, including mental and spiritual assistance, she said. 

“We are taking care of patients and their families at very delicate times,” Solis-Sherman said. “We are always prepared to address very specific needs very quickly, so they know that they are not alone. We will be there for them, at any time – day or night.” 

For more than a decade, Oaklawn Hospice has worked to meet the physical, emotional, spiritual and social needs of persons with life-limiting conditions and their families, Solis-Sherman said. 

The organization’s bereavement services are made available free of charge for at least 13 months after the death of a loved one. Such services include an annual memorial, monthly bereavement support mailings, grief support groups, monthly lunch group and a lending library featuring grief support books.

Oaklawn Hospice’s offices are at 13444 Preston Drive in Marshall, and may be contacted at (269) 789-3939.

PHOTO CAPTION: Joined by the staff of Oaklawn Hospice, Director Adrienne Solis-Sherman (left), holds the certificate proclaiming the organization the recipient of a SHPBest Premier Performer family-satisfaction award for 2018, issued by Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Strategic Healthcare Programs LLC.