Franciscan Hospice and Palliative Care Director Mark Rake-Marona, Franciscan Palliative Care Outreach Director Georganne Trandum and Franciscan Foundation President Jon Flora celebrate a $76,500 grant from the Catholic Health Initiatives Health and Ministry Fund. The grant supports Franciscan’s initiative to raise minority population awareness about end-of-life care options.

Franciscan Health System announced today that it has received a $76,500 grant to help support its new initiative to make minority populations in the South Puget Sound region more aware of the care options that are available for terminally ill individuals.

The grant is from Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives, the national organization with which Franciscan Health System is affiliated. Also, the Franciscan Foundation has contributed $5,600 for the initiative which is called “Closing the Disparity Gap in End-of-Life Care.”

Totaling $82,100, the funds will be used in part to support a staff position that will inform ethnic and racial minorities about care options for the terminally ill and explain how they can access those services. To make certain that services are culturally respectful, the grant will also support staff training and refinement of care procedures where necessary.

“We want to ensure that minority individuals can overcome cultural barriers and make fully informed choices about the type of care they receive when they have been diagnosed with a terminal illness,” says Mark Rake-Marona, director of Franciscan Hospice and Palliative Care.
Studies indicate that members of ethnic and racial minorities are less likely than Caucasians to seek hospice or other end-of-life care. For example, while African-Americans and Latinos comprise 25 percent of the U.S. population, African-Americans account for only 8 percent and Latinos only 2 percent of hospice patients in the nation. Locally, less than 10 percent of patients and families served by Franciscan Hospice and Palliative Care are from minority populations.

Franciscan is the largest provider of in-home and inpatient hospice services in the state. It also operates the only dedicated inpatient hospice facility – Franciscan Hospice House – in the South Sound. During the last 12 months, Franciscan Health System provided inpatient and in-home hospice care to nearly 3,000 individuals.

Last year, Franciscan partnered with the Korean Women’s Association to launch a program that helps Asian and Pacific Islander populations navigate through cultural and language barriers to end-of-life services. The new initiative announced today will supplement that and other outreach efforts.

“Language barriers and cultural differences create gaps in the ability to access care,” says Georganne Trandum, director of Franciscan Palliative Care Outreach, an award-winning program that serves individuals diagnosed with a terminal illness but who are not yet eligible for hospice. “It is our responsibility to hear the patient’s story and learn his or her remaining life goals, no matter their race or cultural differences.”

Next year, Franciscan will apply for an additional grant of up to $300,000 from Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) to support its new outreach effort through 2011.

Now in its 12th year, the CHI Mission and Ministry Fund has awarded 207 grants exceeding $26 million to support programs and services across the U.S. “One of the key missions of CHI is to serve communities outside the four walls of our hospitals and clinics,” says Kevin Lofton, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives. “These grants are a vital part of that outreach.”

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Franciscan Health System includes St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood, St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way; Enumclaw Regional Hospital in Enumclaw; St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor (opens in 2009); Franciscan Medical Group (a network of primary care and specialty care clinics and physicians); and Franciscan Hospice House in University Place. In addition to medical, surgical and emergency care, the Franciscan organization is the leading provider of cardiac and surgical weight loss services in the South Puget Sound region. Franciscan has received the 2007 Washington State Quality Award in recognition of its high quality and performance excellence. Franciscan is affiliated with Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the nation’s largest non-profit health care systems. Franciscan website: http://www.fhshealth.org/