GREENFIELD — Pioneer Valley Hospice and Palliative Care earned a perfect score on its most recent survey by the state Department of Public Health, indicating substantial compliance with requirements for hospice providers.
Pioneer Valley Hospice and Palliative Care is a member of Integritus Healthcare (previously Berkshire Healthcare), a family of not-for-profit providers of skilled nursing, short-term rehabilitation, assisted living, independent living and hospice services. Integritus Healthcare owns or operates 14 rehabilitation and skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts, including Linda Manor Assisted Living in Northampton and the Day Brook Village retirement community in Holyoke.
The Greenfield hospice center, located at 329 Conway St., Suite 2, has served more than 4,000 individuals and their families since opening in 2004. This most recent survey marks Pioneer Valley Hospice and Palliative Care’s third consecutive perfect survey.
“Hospice providers must fulfill a substantial list of requirements to become certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” Terry Gaberson, executive director of Pioneer Valley Hospice and Palliative Care, said in a statement. “I am so pleased to congratulate our staff on their stellar performance in achieving a third deficiency-free survey.”
The state Department of Public Health’s survey is unannounced, according to Gaberson.
“We don’t know with any certainty when our survey will take place, until the surveyors arrive,” Gaberson noted. “They spend several days at our offices interviewing staff members and reviewing records, policies and procedures, but they also make home visits to hospice patients. This is an examination of the quality of our overall program, and it is a rigorous process.”
Surveys are repeated within a three-year window. Any deficiencies that do not meet regulations require an immediate action plan for correction.
The Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts has received a $10,000 grant from the TD Charitable Foundation in support of On Your Own: Financial Literary for Girls, a free badge program designed to empower Girl Scouts to control their financial futures.
All participants complete age-appropriate activities to gain real-world money management skills. Girl Scouts develop leadership skills and build self-esteem as they gain a greater understanding of creating and living by a budget, building and managing credit, increasing their income, and saving and investing for the future.
“We take to heart the important work of teaching financial literacy to girls,” Pattie Hallberg, CEO of Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts, said in a statement. “Supporting this program for the 11th consecutive year, the TD Charitable Foundation has significantly impacted building financially savvy Girl Scouts.”
NORTHAMPTON — Two Civil Air Patrol cadets, including one from Franklin County, spent a recent Sunday flying to Nashua, New Hampshire and back as part of the Orientation Flight (O-Flight) program.
Civil Air Patrol’s O-Flights bring to life the concepts studied in the cadets’ aerospace education program. Cadets regularly take the controls during O-Flights, but an experienced pilot remains in command at all times. Only the pilot will fly the airplane during takeoff, landing and other critical moments of the flight. The flights follow a syllabus with carefully crafted learning objectives designed to increase the cadets’ knowledge of aviation fundamentals as well as inspire a love of aviation.
“It was an amazing experience,” Cadet Elwin Binu, 15, of Sunderland, said in a statement. “I flew the aircraft for much of the hour.”
Before taking off, Binu and Cadet Firas Hashmi, 17, of Amherst, worked with Lt. Col. Pat Routier to inspect components of the Cessna 172 aircraft, from its electronic instrumentation to its fuel and oil. The three landed in New Hampshire so the cadets could change seats, with each having a chance to fly up front.
Binu and Hashmi are members of Civil Air Patrol’s Brig. Gen. Arthur J. Pierce Cadet Squadron of Civil Air Patrol, the civilian, volunteer auxiliary of the United States Air Force. Including its adult leadership, the squadron has 22 members, with cadets ranging in age from 12 to 17. The squadron meets on Mondays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in Dickinson Hall at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
For more information on Civil Air Patrol in Franklin and Hampshire counties, contact Maj. Steve Lauzon, the Pierce squadron’s commanding officer, at Pierce.CAP-Recruiting@mawg.cap.gov.