A little more than a decade ago, hospice nurse Lori Hank grew more and more frustrated with the direction the health care industry was headed.
She told her friend, Richard Seifert, that she felt the industry was not focusing on patients over profit.
Seifert gave her the push to open her own hospice, and it has worked out ever since, as this year marks Monarch Hospice’s 10th year in Lower Burrell.
“I feel we do the right thing for the patient,” said Hank, who co-owns Monarch with Seifert. “At night, I can go home and sleep knowing I did the right thing for the patient.”
They opened in honor of Hank’s father, Robert Pitkivitch, who died from cancer at 58.
Since opening 10 years ago, the facility has grown to 65 employees. It serves about 160 to 200 patients at a time.
Its core philosophy has remained “patient first,” Seifert said, and the co-owners hire people who are compassionate and empathetic.
“We don’t look at it as death,” Seifert said. “We look at it as their final event in life.”
Hospice care is a specialized form of care for a patient nearing the end of life, that focuses on providing comfort, support and pain management.
“It’s our responsibility at the end of life that they get respect, and that their dignity is maintained,” Seifert said.
That personal touch emphasizes that every patient has a story, Seifert said. Some Monarch patients have included people who have danced on stage with entertainer Bob Hope, worked for President Richard Nixon and have a family member who is a Division I football coach.
Hank said the staff is like a family, and she and Seifert try to maintain a positive work environment that makes employees feel supported so they can provide even better care for patients.
Hank said Monarch’s motto — “Adding life to days, when days can not be added to lives” — is something her business takes seriously.
“Families do quote that, and they believe that because of our staff,” she said.
Seifert acknowledges that Monarch is a business. But he knows that if his staff continues to do what’s right, the dollars will follow.
“In the 10 years, we’ve relied on our core values and philosophies, and we continue to grow,” he said. “We’re going to stick with what we believe in and how health care really should be provided.”
