What’s in a name? Gilchrist rebrands itself

Over the last 23 years, Gilchrist Hospice Care has done so much to help so many people at the end of life, and their families. A few years ago, we changed the name to Gilchrist Services to show the community that Gilchrist was more than excellent end of life care. Annually, Gilchrist provides elder medical care to 7,500 individuals, hospice care to 5,400 patients and grief counseling and bereavement services to 6,500 family members. The organization also counsels individuals on care planning, guiding them through decisions about their treatment and helping them make informed choices for their advanced chronic disease. We were still concerned that “Gilchrist Services” was not working as a name.

Earlier this week, Gilchrist launched a new branding and advertising campaign that aims to educate the public that Gilchrist is “more than hospice.” I've asked Cathy Hamel, President of Gilchrist and our system’s Vice President for Continuing Care, to talk about it in this week’s blog.

What triggered the new brand and advertising campaign? Why now?
The mission of the “new” Gilchrist is to provide quality compassionate care, counseling and support to people at every stage of serious illness, so that they may live life to the fullest.  Although a lofty goal, at no time in history is this work needed more than now.  As medicine continues to advance, people are living longer.  And as the population ages, more and more people are struggling to cope with a serious illness or caring for an aging parent.  We want people to know that today’s Gilchrist is here to meet their needs, whether guiding them through treatment options, providing medical care in their home or residential care community or helping them to navigate the often complex, health care system.

What’s the primary goal of the campaign?
We hope that this campaign will allow us to better communicate the broad range of services that Gilchrist offers for people with serious illness.  Our new campaign aims to educate people that “even before hospice, there’s Gilchrist.”  From elder medical care to grief counseling to volunteer assistance and more, Gilchrist will provide clear information and loving care at every stage of serious illness, so people can live life to the fullest, on their own terms.

Are you hoping that through this campaign you can address some of the public misconceptions or stigma surrounding hospice and end-of-life care?
Gilchrist will always be known for the compassionate end-of-life care and services that we provide.  And believe it or not, although most Americans are still afraid of dying, the use of hospice has grown exponentially in the past 20 years.  But that is really not what this campaign is about.  It’s about communicating the point that today’s Gilchrist extends services to individuals with serious illness who need our care and support well in advance of hospice care.

Can you describe the programs that Gilchrist offers? What new services are you thinking about?
We have reorganized our programs into three main service lines: Counseling and Support, Elder Medical Care and Hospice Care.  By clearly defining our services under this continuum of care, we believe that we can more effectively communicate the breadth of services we offer to those with serious illness—through every stage—so that they may live life to the fullest.  Our physicians, nurse practitioners, and social workers provide medical care for people who can no longer safely access their care in medical offices by going to their homes. We provide palliative consultations in nursing homes and assisted living facilities in addition to acute care hospitals.  We provide the care in the GBMC rehabilitation unit, (previously known as Unit 54), and we, of course, continue to provide nationally recognized hospice care for children and adults.  We are also the only hospice in Central Maryland who offer Medicare patients on-going treatment for their disease and hospice care concurrently for select diagnosis.

In summary, we are deeply committed to giving people the clear information and loving support they need to make informed choices about their care.

I would like to invite you to visit our new website, www.gilchristcares.org to learn more about the new Gilchrist.

***
I sincerely thank Cathy and the entire Gilchrist team for all that they do every day for elders and patients at the end of life. I applaud them for their person-centeredness and their excellence!