The HomeCare and Hospice Alliance of Maine presented Eastern Maine HomeCare (EMHC) with the 2010 Media Award at its annual meeting on Sept, 9. Lisa Harvey-McPherson, EMHC president /CEO accepted the award on behalf of EMHC staff for their work with veteran New York Times reporter, Robert Pear.
Last year just before Thanksgiving, Pear spent three days with administrative and clinical staff at Visiting Nurses of Aroostook. “He wanted to learn how health care reform would impact home care and hospice in rural America. He selected the town of Caribou, because it is Sen. Susan Collins’ hometown. Sen. Collins is a strong supporter of home health care,” explained Harvey-McPherson. “Mr. Pear contacted the National Association of HomeCare, and they contacted us. Of course, we were very excited to have a nationally-known reporter interested in northern Maine and in our deep concerns about more cuts to home care and hospice reimbursement,” she added.
Pear accompanied clinical staff on home care visits in the Fort Kent, Caribou and Houlton areas. His article ran in the New York Times on Dec. 4, 2009, following the passage of health care reform legislation in the House and legislation pending on the Senate floor. The article highlighted the disconnect between a key goal of health care reform — to reduce hospital readmissions — and the proposed cuts to home care and hospice.
The result from Pear’s article, achieved with time and effort given by Eastern Maine HomeCare clinicians, caught national attention and educated NYT readers — including Congress — on how federal reimbursement cuts would negatively impact patient access to home care and hospice services in rural America.
A copy of the article can be found at: www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/health/policy/05home.html.
