R 267

2015 -- H 6183 Enacted 05/07/2015

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

PROCLAIMING MAY 7, 2015, AS "RHODE ISLAND HOME CARE AND HOSPICE DAY"

Introduced By: Representatives O'Brien, Slater, Diaz, Marshall, and McKiernan

Date Introduced: May 07, 2015

WHEREAS, Home healthcare 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 healthcare services to Rhode Islanders in their homes; and

WHEREAS, Home is the preferred setting for healthcare 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 healthcare allows families to stay together and provides for stronger

health, dignity, and comfort within our communities; and

WHEREAS, Home healthcare is the most cost-effective healthcare service delivery

setting versus hospitals, nursing homes, and other institutional-based healthcare 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 "Advancing quality

healthcare at home" as it demands of its provider member agencies and their staff to provide the

highest quality of healthcare service delivery to all Rhode Islanders in need; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby proclaims May 7, 2015, as "Rhode Island Home Care and Hospice

Day"; and be it further

RESOLVED, That this House hereby supports access to quality healthcare services in the

home in order to provide Rhode Islanders with the ability to continue to live in our communities

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

RESOLVED, That this House hereby recognizes, supports, and applauds our state’s

unsung workforce of home healthcare 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 healthcare services in their homes; 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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LC002563

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