JourneyCare is proud to serve as Illinois’ largest nonprofit provider of hospice and palliative care and Chicago’s only provider of pediatric hospice and palliative care. Every day, JourneyCare provides comprehensive and compassionate care to individuals of all ages and their loved ones residing across a 13-county region of northern Illinois through community-based hospice and palliative care, inpatient hospice care, home health services and grief support services. Care is provided wherever the patient calls home, whether a residence, nursing home, assisted-living facility or in one of our five inpatient centers.
The Ada F. Addington Hospice Care Center located in Rush University Medical Center opened its doors in 2012 as the first hospice inpatient unit of Chicago. The 13-bed CareCenter provides acute and around-the-clock support for he seriously ill adults and children – offering comfort, dignity and compassionate care during their final days. Inpatient hospice care allows our care team to monitor patients’ symptoms around-the-clock and address any short-term symptoms that require advanced care. This level of care is especially important for some patients whose life-limiting illness is causing pain, anxiety or other symptoms that have been difficult to manage in other care settings. Since opening, the Addington CareCenter has been the hospice care home to more than 3,000 seriously ill individuals and their families.
In 2017, JourneyCare launched the Hospice Volunteer Expansion in Chicago project to enhance, within the City of Chicago, volunteer support to our patients and families. Through the Volunteer Expansion project, funded by Washington Square Health Foundation, JourneyCare has been able to recruit and train many new volunteers who are instrumental in our ability to ensure the highest level of comprehensive care to our patients and families.
Volunteers serve in a number of important roles, including offering companionship to patients and families, assisting the clinical staff in supporting the needs of patients, and helping to create the best experience for our patients and families. Whether baking treats, sitting at a patient’s bedside, playing games with patients and families or welcoming families upon arrival to the unit, volunteers greatly improve the quality of life for our patients and their families.
