The Duke Endowment grant will be used to implement pediatric telehealth services for Transitions Kids, a home-based hospice and palliative care program of Transitions LifeCare that supports the unique needs of children birth through age 18 who have a life-limiting illness. Through telehealth, Transitions Kids staff will be able to provide “face-to-face” triage of after-hours needs, conduct family meetings that include providers from collaborating organizations or hospitals, and more quickly respond to the needs of children who live a great distance from the Transitions LifeCare campus.
CEO John Thoma acknowledges, “Today’s families have unique needs, especially when faced with the challenge of caring for a child with life threatening illness. Supplying parents with an efficient, immediate means for contact with clinicians will relieve anxiety and burdens during a very stressful time.”
“Transitions LifeCare is grateful to receive this prestigious grant from The Duke Endowment. The grant will enable us to use innovative technology to provide an additional layer of support to our pediatric patients and their families. We are honored to partner with The Duke Endowment on this exciting pilot program, and look forward to this next phase in our innovative patient care,” says Vice President of Philanthropy Kristye Brackett, CFP®.
“By augmenting care with telehealth technology, this program aims to reduce the burden of travel and help more families receive high quality services,” notes Stacy Warren, a health care program officer at the Endowment. “Supporting effective efforts that improve access to care is an important focus of our work at the Endowment.”
Based in Charlotte and established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment is a private foundation that strengthens communities in North Carolina and South Carolina by nurturing children, promoting health, educating minds and enriching spirits. Since its founding, it has distributed more than $3.4 billion in grants. The Endowment shares a name with Duke University and Duke Energy, but all are separate organizations.
About Transitions LifeCare
Originally founded as Hospice of Wake County in 1979, Transitions LifeCare is a nonprofit organization that provides a comprehensive circle of expert care and support for people in Durham, Franklin, Harnett, Johnston, eastern Chatham, and Wake counties, as well as in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Transitions LifeCare believes every individual deserves the quality of life he or she wants when facing a serious illness or near life’s end. The organization provides a comprehensive circle of care and support with education, as well as emotional and spiritual support for a patient’s entire family, and services are tailored to meet the exact needs, wishes, and goals of each patient and family member.
Leave a Reply