Arbor Hospice & Palliative Care offers support for grieving parents free of cost

Arbor Hospice & Palliative Care invites grieving parents across southeast Michigan to receive assurance, comfort and guidance in the New Year through Arbor’s Loss of a Child Support Group. This free, eight-week grief support group runs Thursdays from Jan. 14 through March 3 at 7 p.m. at the nonprofit’s office, located at 2366 Oak Valley Drive in Ann Arbor. All are welcome, regardless of whether their loved one received hospice care from the nonprofit organization. 

“The experience of losing a child is especially shocking and overwhelming for parents, even if they have coped with grief in the past,” said Gloria D. Brooks, president of Arbor Hospice & Palliative Care. “Our team is sensitive to the unique experiences of grieving parents and is equipped to provide a caring and supportive environment in our support groups where they can begin to work through the loss.”

Support group participants can find comfort and solidarity in meeting with other grieving parents. In this compassionate setting, Arbor’s staff helps demystify the wide range of physical and emotional reactions associated with loss.

Many members of the community benefit from various grief support groups each year through Arbor Hospice & Palliative Care, and all are free of cost to enable as many people as possible to find the consolation and information they need. Donations to The Arbor Hospice Foundation are appreciated to support the nonprofit’s programming and services for patients and family members.

Support group participants must register by visiting arborhospice.org/calendar or calling 734-794-5177. Space is limited.

Arbor Hospice & Palliative Care and Hospice of Michigan Affiliate to Become Largest Provider of Comprehensive Hospice and Palliative Care in the State

In a move designed to strengthen and expand the mission of nonprofit hospice providers in Michigan, Arbor Hospice & Palliative Care and Hospice of Michigan today announced they will form an affiliation effective Jan. 1, 2016.

Collectively, the affiliated organization will unite in caring for more than 2,200 patients on a daily basis across 58 Michigan counties, making it the largest provider of hospice and palliative care services in the state. Both organizations share common missions, visions and values and will be able to better serve patients and their families without regard to age, diagnosis or ability to pay.

The affiliation was announced to employees earlier today. Both organizations will continue to offer all their current programs and services and anticipate the new affiliation will enable them to commit more resources at the patient bedside.

The unified organization will be led by Robert Cahill, who has more than two decades of healthcare experience and has served as president and CEO of HOM since 2014. Gloria D. Brooks will serve as president of Arbor and the Arbor Hospice Foundation and vice president and chief strategy officer for HOM. The organizational management structure will be finalized in early January 2016.

“Arbor is excited to form an affiliation with HOM that aligns our missions and allows us to share best practices to better serve our patients and families,” said Gloria D. Brooks, president and CEO of Arbor Hospice. “Through this affiliation, Arbor and HOM will be able to preserve what’s unique about each organization while preserving the nonprofit hospice legacy to provide compassionate care to all.”

HOM president and CEO Robert Cahill noted: “This affiliation gives us greater opportunities to deliver the highest quality of care by sharing best practices and collaborating to better serve community needs.  We are both financially sound organizations and are making this affiliation from a position of strength. This new affiliation will allow both of us to enjoy the financial benefits of being part of a larger organization without sacrificing our names, brands and legacies.”  

Under the affiliation agreement, Arbor and HOM will continue as independent 501(c)(3)s and operate under their respective names.  Arbor will continue to serve patients throughout Washtenaw County and its current service area out of its Ann Arbor office, as HOM continues to serve patients throughout Michigan. 

The Arbor Hospice Foundation will be established as an independent foundation supporting Arbor’s programs and services. The Hospice of Michigan Foundation will continue to support HOM’s programs.

Patients and families currently served by Arbor and HOM will not experience any change with the affiliation. Clinical teams will remain intact and will continue to deliver the highest quality comfort care to palliative care and end-of-life patients and their families. 

For additional information about the affiliation, please visit: www.arborhospice.org or www.hom.org.