West Virginia Caring, one of the largest and oldest nonprofit hospice and palliative care providers in West Virginia, is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its parent organization, Capital Caring, of Falls Church, VA. Capital Caring was founded in 1977 and has since cared for nearly 110,000 families in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, and now, West Virginia. As part of its partnership with Capital Caring, West Virginia Caring maintains its unique identity and 12-county service area, while Malene Davis, Capital Caring’s President and CEO, serves as the president of both organizations. With more than 500 employees and volunteers throughout its service area, West Virginia Caring’s reach extends over a broad region of the Mountaineer State.
“Since our founding 40 years ago, the mission at Capital Caring, and at West Virginia Caring, has been to ‘simply improve care,’” said Ms. Davis. “Ultimately, what is most important to us is that every mom, dad, and child who needs compassionate advanced illness care receives it and that we address what matters most to each person who entrusts their care to us.”
The Medicare Hospice Benefit, which is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, and commercial insurance plans make advanced illness care available at no cost, but West Virginia currently ranks 42nd in hospice utilization rates nationwide. Recent studies show that improving hospice access by one percent would save Medicare more than $500 million annually, while improving patient-centered outcomes and addressing what matters most to patients and their families during the last weeks to months of life.
