MIAMI, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- VITAS Innovative Hospice Care(R), one of the nation’s oldest and the largest provider of end-of-life care, today unveiled its first Corporate Social Responsibility Report (CSR), entitled, “Celebrating Our VITAS Values Through Corporate Social Responsibility, 2004- 2005.”
The 24-page full-sized report takes readers from VITAS’ beginnings as an all-volunteer non-profit hospice, through the socially responsible activities occurring today at its 39 hospice programs nationwide. Appearing throughout the report are examples of the ways in which VITAS and its employees make a difference in the lives of the local community members they serve. A small sampling includes:
* VITAS charity care activities, in which the company contributes more than $7.5 million annually in charity care services in the United States; * The VITAS Hospice Charitable Fund and its work to expand hospice access and its support for hospice families in need; * VITAS’ role in the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa and its emerging partnership with a Jamaican hospice in need; * VITAS’ work in reaching out to communities historically underserved by hospice, including African-American and Jewish communities; * VITAS’ community bereavement support and memorial services; and * VITAS’ role in pioneering clinical pastoral education, as well as its role as an industry leader and hospice pioneer for other end-of-life programs and services.
“This Corporate Social Responsibility report should fill every VITAS employee and volunteer with an enormous sense of pride,” said Tim O’Toole, VITAS CEO. “It serves as a reflection of our commitment to our patients and their families, to our local, national, and international communities, as well as to the hospice movement and the ever-increasing need for compassionate end- of-life care throughout the world.”
This inaugural VITAS report will serve as a benchmark to help the company measure its continued commitment to corporate social responsibility and to meeting the needs of the communities it serves, and other communities worldwide.
To view and download a copy of the 2004-2005 VITAS Corporate Social Responsibility report, please visit http://www.vitas.com.
About VITAS
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care(R), a pioneer and leader in the hospice movement since 1978, is the nation’s largest provider of end-of-life care. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS operates 39 hospice programs in 15 states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin). VITAS, which has evolved from its founding as a volunteer organization by a United Methodist Minister and an oncology nurse, today employs 7,853 professionals who care for terminally ill patients daily, primarily in the patients’ homes, but also in the company’s 24 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the second quarter of 2005, VITAS reported an average daily census of 9,913; VITAS served nearly 55,000 patients throughout all of 2004. The name, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs), is derived from the Latin word for lives. It symbolizes the VITAS mission: To preserve the quality of life for those who have a limited time to live.
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care
CONTACT: Mark Cohen, VP-Communications & Public Relations of VITASHealthcare Corporation, +1-305-350-5905, or Deborah Adams, AccountSupervisor of Hill & Knowlton, +1-202-944-1903, for VITAS InnovativeHospice Care
Web site: http://www.vitas.com//
