Sonoma Valley Hospital’s Skilled Home Care Service will be taken over by Hospice by the Bay, a regional nonprofit with longtime experience providing care in the patient’s home. The transfer deal goes into effect October 1.
“We are delighted to see Hospice by the Bay take over this service which is important for our community,” said Kelly Mather, hospital CEO. “It ensures that patients will continue to receive skilled care services at home without interruption.”
The program provides nearly 9,000 home visits each year but was a net drain on the hospital’s budget. It was in great danger of being eliminated until Hospice became an option. (In a previous cost-cutting move, the hospital’s obstetrics department was eliminated.)
There’s no money in it for SVH other than savings, with Hospice taking over the program’s assets and liabilities. The program’s name will remain the same.
From humble beginnings in 1992, Hospice by the Bay has branched into home health and palliative care. It already operates a home care service that it recently acquired in San Francisco, and expands again here by taking over the SVH program.
“We are working together to plan a smooth transition, for patients, families and Healing at Home staff,” said Wendy Ranzau, RN, chief operating officer for Hospice by the Bay. “There will be no interruption in service and the same wonderful care will be provided.”
The budget-cutting move, and recent partnership with UCSF, comes as the hospital seeks to “reinvent itself,” Mather said.
“The financial realities of healthcare today are forcing hard decision.”
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