Addressing Shorter Length of Stay
Date/Time: 03/18/2014, 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Provider: Florida Hospice & Palliative Care Association
In 2012 the national median length of stay was 18.7 days and 35% of people died or were discharged in 7 days or less. What happened to 6 months?! The truth is, the shorter the time we have with someone, the better our skills need to be; visits can no longer be just “assessment visits” and true teams need to operate like finely tuned machines. This webinar will address the ways we can “fine tune” our skills and create the flexibility necessary to assure “short stay patients” receive what it is we promise: high quality hospice care.
Speaker: Gary Gardia, M.Ed., MSW, LCSW, CT
Gary has been instrumental in the initial creation and evolution of NHPCO’s Manager Development Program, a comprehensive education series for managers working in end-of-life care. He has worked as a speaker and consultant in all areas of healthcare, beginning as a hospice volunteer in 1983. Since then he has worked in many capacities and led a variety of teams, including volunteers, social workers, and patient care teams and served as a hospice vice president.
Gary is a Certified Thanatologist (CT), holds Master’s degrees in education and social work, and received NHPCO’s “Heart of Hospice Award” for developing innovative programs for caregivers and the bereaved. He has also worked as a private psychotherapist specializing in grief and loss, personal growth and development, and substance abuse. A co-creator and faculty of the two-day intensive program Leadership in Everyday Life: Confronting the Ego and Managing the Mind, Gary has recently developed a one-year certificate program for hospice and palliative care social workers sponsored by The Palliative Care Institute at the California State University, San Marcos.
