ROCKVILLE, Md., and WINCHESTER, Va., Oct. 17, 2023 Maryland-based Montgomery Hospice & Prince George’s Hospice and Virginia-based Blue Ridge Hospice announce the signing of a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to enter an affiliation that would create a new organization model for community hospice & palliative care providers. The affiliation will combine the strengths and capabilities of the co-founding hospices. Combined, the hospices would care for more than 900 patients daily through their hospice and palliative care programs across the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, and in eight counties across the northern Shenandoah Valley and northwestern Virginia.
These community-based, integrated care organizations will remain locally operated. The communities served by Montgomery Hospice & Prince George’s Hospice and Blue Ridge Hospice will continue to receive the same level of high-quality, expert, compassionate, and culturally sensitive care and support.
The planned affiliation comes after purposeful conversations between Ann Mitchell, President & CEO of Montgomery Hospice & Prince George’s Hospice, and Cheryl Hamilton Fried, President & CEO of Blue Ridge Hospice, and their respective not-for-profits of Directors. By co-founding a new supporting entity, the hospices will be well-positioned to meet the evolving realities of the healthcare landscape. Further, the affiliation will create a model of care with the potential to strengthen not-for-profit hospices throughout the Mid-Atlantic.
“The purpose of our organizations co-creating this new affiliation in the Mid-Atlantic region is to better prepare for the future while providing high-quality care. Also important is to create a model that provides opportunities for future collaborations,” stated Mitchell. “By proactively affiliating with Blue Ridge Hospice, who, like us, has provided serious illness and loss services of the highest quality since 1981, we’re ensuring that both organizations can continue to meet community need, innovate, and expand on their legacies to meet the challenges ahead. We are stronger together.” she added.
These sentiments were echoed by Hamilton Fried. “We are two organizations with similar missions, comparable levels of community support, equal commitments to quality, and outstanding records of service and success, so we complement each other’s strengths, and our collaboration is poised for success,” she added. “Through our affiliation, we hope to demonstrate to other like-minded, not-for-profit hospice and palliative care providers throughout the Mid-Atlantic that we can all be better—and stronger—when we work together.”
With the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, the two parties have initiated a comprehensive due diligence process intended to lead to the signing of a legally binding definitive agreement. The affiliation will be subject to approval of the two Boards and receipt of normal governmental and third-party approvals.
“For over 42 years, our organizations have been meeting our communities’ need for high-quality, expert, and compassionate hospice and palliative care, as well as grief and loss support,” acknowledged Diane Kuwamura, Esq., and Richard Kennedy, the respective Board Chairs of Montgomery Hospice & Prince George’s Hospice and Blue Ridge Hospice in a joint statement. “We are community-integrated and supported and are honored by the trust bestowed upon us to care for our seriously ill and aging neighbors and friends.”
The two Board Chairs underscored that both organizations will continue to provide high-quality, expert and compassionate care and support for patients and families.
