JOLIET, Ill., Aug. 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lightways, Illinois' largest not-for-profit provider of hospice and serious illness care, announced the expansion of its pediatric program to include eight new staff members and 80 seriously ill children previously served by the recently-disbanded JourneyCare in Barrington, Ill. The move is a lifeline to families on the verge of losing access to in-home hospice and palliative care.
"There's no question that at-home hospice and palliative care improves the quality of life for seriously and terminally ill children and their families," said Mary Kay Sheehan, RN, MSN, MBA, Chief Executive Officer, Lightways Hospice and Serious Illness Care. "These services reduce suffering and enhance the quality of time families are able to spend together."
While studies show that in-home hospice and palliative care typically results in shorter hospitalizations and less frequent visits to the emergency room for seriously sick and dying children, many providers in Illinois – and across the country – do not provide pediatric hospice services. This is due, in large part, to the limited Medicaid and private insurance reimbursement available. Lack of access to specialized training for staff tasked with serving the complex needs of this vulnerable population is another barrier.
Now the only hospice and palliative care provider in northern Illinois to offer specialized pediatric care, Lightways' admittance of JourneyCare's youngest patients triples the size of its pediatric program and broadens its geographic reach into Chicago's northern suburbs, and the city itself. The move comes with a heavy financial lift for the not-for-profit but, according to Sheehan, "a moral imperative."
"We could not, and would not, leave these children without care," said Sheehan. "But for this to be sustainable, we urgently need community support."
Lightways has established a Little Lights Fund for donors interested in helping to ensure that children and families in need of hospice and palliative care can receive it. The restricted fund will be used to cover an estimated $750,000 to $1,000,000 in non-reimbursed expenses associated with Lightways' pediatric program.
Recently passed legislation in the State of Illinois will require private insurers and Medicaid plans to include a pediatric palliative care and hospice benefit. The mandate goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, for Medicaid, and a full year later for private insurers. Even then, many facets of pediatric care, including in-home visits by child life specialists and complementary therapists, such as music and massage therapists, will not be covered.
Lightways (formerly Joliet Area Community Hospice) is a community based, state licensed and Medicare/Medicaid certified agency providing serious illness and hospice care for adults and children and grief support services for family members and the community. The nonprofit serves Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Livingston, McHenry, and Will counties. For more information, call 815-740-4104 or visit .
SOURCE Lightways
