Hospice News

Hospice and Palliative Care Center Honors Veterans and Collaboration with Department of Veteran Affairs

According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, of all the Americans who pass away this year, more than one quarter will be veterans of the armed forces,” explained Lorraine Sciara, CHE, Executive Director of the Saint Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care Center, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, during the Center’s Serving Those Who Have Served Us veteran event held in May.  “It is our responsibility to ensure that veterans who are coping with advanced illness are receiving the support and compassion they deserve.  And, it is our privilege, to provide them with a comfortable journey through life’s final battle while taking into account the needs and preferences that are unique to individuals who have experienced and lived within a military culture.”

Sciara, joined by the Department of Veteran Affairs of the VA New Jersey Health Care System, honored Saint Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care Center patients, employees, and volunteers who have served in the military during a special breakfast which featured the dedication of a Crab Apple Tree donated by Corvelli Brothers Landscaping of East Hanover.  The tree was planted on the campus of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System Corporate Offices in West Orange where the event was held.

Over the past several years the Saint Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care Center team has worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure the veteran population it serves receives exceptional services.  The two organizations have collaborated on many occasions, but marked the celebration of a formal partnership at the event.

“The Saint Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care Center embraces the mission to provide physical, emotional, and spiritual support and comfort to patients and their families - we have been doing this for more than 25 years,” added Sciara.  “As American citizens it is also our mission to provide this care to the veterans who have so courageously and selflessly devoted their lives to protecting and serving the United States.  We look forward to continuing to work with the Department of Veteran Affairs to do so.”

Established in 1981, Saint Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care Center, an affiliate of the Saint Barnabas Health Care System, provides comprehensive physical, emotional and spiritual care and support services to patients with advanced illness and their families throughout ten counties in the State of New Jersey. The program, which serves infants, children, adults and the elderly, honors the unique choices and values of patients and their families while offering full access to the broad array of services provided by the Saint Barnabas Health Care System.

For more information about Saint Barnabas Hospice and Palliative Care Center, please call 973-322-4800.

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