Providing Respectful Care to Frail Elders and Those at the End of Life

In honor of National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, I wanted to thank all our Gilchrist colleagues for all they do. Gilchrist has created an exciting new joint venture with Luminis Health to provide the older residents of Anne Arundel County with the world-class continuum of geriatric services they need and deserve. 

LuminisHealth is regarded as a leading health system with inpatient and outpatient locations in eight counties, and Gilchrist is a nonprofit with more than a quarter-century of experience delivering exceptional elder medical care, hospice, and palliative care. Named the Luminis Health Gilchrist Lifecare Institute, this collaborative team provides comprehensive, coordinated medical care and support wherever patients need it, whether in a residential care community, a long-term care or assisted living facility, or in the comfort of their own home. Services are personalized to meet the unique needs of each patient. 

Anne Arundel is one of fastest-growing counties in Maryland. The county’s population has increased by more than 20 percent during the past 20 years and is now nearly 600,000 people in all, making it larger than Baltimore City. More than 15 percent of Anne Arundel’s current population is 65 years and over, according to the U.S. Census.  

The goal of the Institute is to better meet the needs of the elderly population and improve their quality of life while also reducing unnecessary hospitalizations. 

During the past six months of the joint venture, the Institute has achieved Medicare certification, created an inpatient palliative team on site at Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center, providing services 7 days a week, and launched the Geriatric Supportive Home Services program, where a primary care provider visits patients where they live.

I want to congratulate and thank the team for their commitment to treat every person the way they want their own loved one treated.

Congratulations!
I have always talked about how our physicians being named in the Baltimore magazine “Top Docs” issue is an extraordinary honor; well this year is no different! The community has again reminded us that GBMC HealthCare has the best surgeons, internists, pediatricians, family physicians, and other specialists in the market, and what makes this recognition special is that everyone on the list was chosen by their peers. 

This year’s issue acknowledges changes in medical care specialties with some new categories.   I want to applaud the 81 members of our medical staff across 40 specialties named a “Top Doc” along with Raya Wehbeh, MD, sleep medicine physician and GBMC’s Medical Director for Sleep Medicine. She was one of several physicians, from a pool of hundreds in the Baltimore area, selected to be profiled. Twelve members of the GBMC medical staff have made this list five years or more, and seven physicians who have been on the list 10 years or more.  

To all the “Top Doctors” at GBMC and Dr. Wehbeh: Congratulations from all of us! We are very proud of you. To view a listing of our “Top Doctors” and to learn more about who they are, please visit here. 

Since we are on the topic of Baltimore magazine, believe it or not, the publication is currently collecting votes for its 2023 Excellence in Nursing issue. Anyone can nominate a nurse—nurse managers, colleagues, patients—they just need to fill out the online form here. The deadline for nominations is Friday, Nov. 18.  

Thank you!!
Last week was National Respiratory Care Week and National Healthcare Facilities and Engineering Week (Oct. 23-29). I would like to acknowledge all of our respiratory therapists for playing a critical role in our healthcare system, especially during this surge of viral respiratory illness. Please join me in thanking them and our fabulous facilities team.