2014 -- S 2992

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LC005592

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

PROCLAIMING MAY 8, 2014, AS "RHODE ISLAND HOME HEALTH CARE AND

HOSPICE DAY"

     Introduced By: Senators Goodwin, Paiva Weed, Pichardo, Metts, and Lombardi

     Date Introduced: May 08, 2014

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, Home health care agencies licensed by the Rhode Island Department of

Health as home care providers, home nursing care providers, and hospice providers deliver a

variety of high quality health care services to Rhode Islanders in their homes; and

     WHEREAS, Home is the preferred setting for health care service delivery among our

state's elderly, disabled, and chronically ill as they strive to live independently in the comfort of

their own homes and their own communities for as long as they are able to safely; and

     WHEREAS, Home health care allows families to stay together and provides for stronger

health, dignity, and comfort within our communities; and

     WHEREAS, Home health care is the most cost-effective health care service delivery

setting versus hospitals, nursing homes, and other institutional-based health care settings for acute

and chronic conditions care; and

     WHEREAS, Hospice care provides humane and comforting support for terminally ill

patients and their families, including pain management, social-emotional support, and spiritual

guidance during the final months, weeks, days, and hours of life; and

     WHEREAS, Hospice care provides for the final piece in the full circle of life by

providing for the basic human needs of comfort in familiar surroundings by a community of care

that attains physical and emotional peace during the last stage of life; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Partnership for Home Care is the state's unified voice for

home health care and hospice services that demands of its members to provide the highest quality

of health care service delivery to all Rhode Islanders in need; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby recognizes May 8, 2014, as "Rhode Island Home Health Care and Hospice Day"; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby recognizes, supports, and applauds our state's

unsung workforce of home health care aides, nurses, social workers, and therapists that work

tirelessly to provide 24-hour clinical support, palliative care, homemaking, and daily living

assistance to Rhode Islanders in need of quality health care services in their home; and be it

further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby supports our constituents' need to access quality

health care services in the home and strive to maintain their ability to continue to live in our

communities for as long as they are able to safely; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Secretary of the Rhode Island Executive

Office of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Human

Services, the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, the Director of the Rhode Island

Division of Elderly Affairs, the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral

Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals, and the President of the Rhode Island

Partnership for Home Care.

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LC005592

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