Hospice Foundation of the Ozarks and The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital Launch Innovative Partnership

Hospice Foundation of the Ozarks and The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital are pleased to announce a groundbreaking partnership to create a series of education and bereavement programs supporting patients, families and health care professionals across Missouri. Both organizations have pledged $50,000 toward the implementation of this valuable project.

This project will spotlight those in rural areas affected by COVID-19. The initiative -- Bereavement Care in the Midst of COVID Response and Beyond -- unites leading researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, the University of Missouri-Columbia along with the Missouri Hospice and Palliative Care Association, Oasis, and BJC Healthcare. The collaborative effort will develop educational webinars for providers, increase palliative care support, and enhance pain and symptom management and bereavement support for patients and families across the state.

The collaboration is led by Brian Carpenter PhD, professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University, Professor of medicine in the Division of Palliative Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine and Cara Wallace PhD, LMSW, APHSW-C, assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Saint Louis University. Drs. Carpenter and Wallace, along with the Missouri Hospice and Palliative Care Association, will develop evidence-based webinars on critical topics including managing grief and bereavement in the COVID-19 environment, facilitating advanced care planning during a pandemic and addressing provider burnout and moral distress. In addition, Washington University palliative care physicians will share knowledge from their experiences working with COVID-19 with rural providers primarily from the Springfield area.

Patrick White, MD, chief of the Division of Palliative Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine and The Stokes Family Endowed Chair in Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care and Chief Medical Officer of BJC Hospice, says, “This is an innovative collaboration combining the expertise of several of the leading palliative care researchers and providers from across the state with a partner, Hospice Foundation of the Ozarks, which truly understand the needs of rural patients and providers.

Since 1997, Hospice Foundation of the Ozarks (HFO) has given more than $1 million in grant awards supporting innovative programs that respond to unmet needs of those requiring hospice, palliative care, advance care planning, grief and bereavement services. The Foundation has funded a range of grantees making important contributions in critical, yet often overlooked areas of need. 

“The Hospice Foundation of the Ozarks is focused and energized on funding innovative projects that truly meet the needs of our community,” says Kim Morelock, executive director of HFO. “This collaboration is a wonderful example of a cutting-edge, mission driven partnership that will greatly impact and change the culture of bereavement and palliative care in the Ozarks and beyond.

HFO’s mission recognizes that dignity at end of life is important for everyone. HFO supports projects that educate, impact and empower not only those at end of life, but the community as a whole; both here in the Ozarks and beyond. The organization’s mission and strategic goal is to "Fund Initiatives for Dignity at Life’s End”.

The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital plays a critical role in how BJC Hospice caregivers help patients navigate the end of life’s journey with dignity and compassion.  At the heart of BJC Hospice is the acknowledgment that each patient’s journey to us is unique. Each year, our team has the privilege of working with more than 3,500 patients and families during their final journey.