Virtual Light Up a Life presented by San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine

Important Message from CEO Kathleen Pacurar
& Light Up a Life Update

In my two years as San Diego Hospice’s President and CEO, one of my main priorities has been to engage in a national conversation around the future of hospice care, to ensure that San Diegans continue to receive superior end-of-life care.  As you know, vital health care systems nationwide are undergoing heightened federal oversight.  This is having a heavy impact on hospice programs locally and around the country, and includes San Diego Hospice. 

On November 12, I discussed with the Union-Tribune how the national healthcare conversation is impacting San Diego Hospice, and our story was published the next day.  We are thankful that the article reinforced our commitment to excellence along with our primary responsibility to our patients and families.

Since February 2011, we have been the subject of a Medicare audit, and have learned during this time that some of our past patient documentation was out of compliance with Medicare’s documentation rules.  While we have not yet received the audit results, we are taking this issue very seriously and have already begun extensive training programs to address and improve our documentation procedures. 

It is important for you to know that at no time has our mission of providing the best day of patient care for thousands of terminally-ill patients and their families waned.  With your support, we are staunchly committed to addressing regulatory and fiscal compliance head-on.  This is not only a springboard to excellence, but also the foundation of our future.

As San Diego Hospice addresses this issue, our Foundation is also closely examining some of our beloved donor activities and the costs associated with each.  Among them is our annual Light Up A Life celebration.  Given the challenges our organization is facing, and being mindful of how our charitable dollars are spent, we have decided to cancel the Light Up A Life event this year. 

It was an extremely tough decision but one I feel is the most prudent and responsible to make at this time.  However, many of our wonderful supporters have asked, “Can we still give to the tradition of Light Up A Life to memorialize my loved one, even if there is no event?”  In thinking about this question and the importance of paying tribute to those we love while also giving back to help support the direct care of our patients and families, we have decided to create San Diego Hospice’s first-ever Virtual Light Up A Life.  We are hopeful this new approach will allow even more people to become involved and support the services of San Diego Hospice.  And with a “virtual” event there are no expenses, allowing 100% of every contribution to directly support hospice patient and family care.

If you would like to sponsor a light for someone you love, please click here to visit our Virtual Light Up A Life event page.  The 100% tax-deductible donation for each sponsored light is $35, and you can sponsor more than one!

Your friendship is more important than ever before.  Thank you for all you do for San Diego Hospice and the community we serve. 

Please call my office at (619) 278-6250 if you have any questions.

Kathleen Pacurar

President and CEO

For Grief & Loss Support information, please click here.