VITAS Representative Erika E. Wohlke
Named to Prestigious National Leadership Council
Hospice Advocate Recognized for Skill & Compassion
in Educating Professionals & Consumers about End of Life Care Options

Erika E. Wohlke, a VITAS Representative for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care of Fairfield, has been named to the prestigious 2005 Leadership Council for the nation’s largest and one of the nation’s oldest hospice providers.

Wohlke, who works with physicians and staff at Connecticut Health of Southport to ensure that patients and families facing a terminal diagnosis have all the information they need to consider a hospice admission, has worked with VITAS since it opened in southwest Connecticut a year ago, its third hospice program serving the state.

“My job is to educate people on the Medicare Hospice Benefit and let them know that it is OK to make decisions about end-of-life care early—so that the patient, family and the staff of the long-term care facility can have some closure. Southport Manor’s staff are true advocates for each of their residents. With the staff of Southport Manor and VITAS working together as a team, we can be sure that every patient gets the best possible care.”

A lifelong resident of Connecticut, Wohlke graduated from the University of Connecticut and formerly was a pre-school teacher working with Autistic children. Moving from pre-school education to hospice care has been a rewarding change, she says. “VITAS is about living, not about dying. We provide the highest quality of care for people at the end of life and allow them to live their life to the fullest. I want each patient and her or his family for whom we care to feel comfort and trust in what we do—that’s what’s most important to me.”

The VITAS Leadership Council recognizes a select group of managers and patient advocates who embody the company’s mission and values and possess the vision, energy and commitment to help hospice grow. Leadership Council participants are selected from more than 8,000 VITAS employees working in 39 hospice programs in 15 states.

VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®, a pioneer and leader in the hospice movement since 1978, has evolved from its founding as an all-volunteer organization by a United Methodist minister and an oncology nurse. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS served nearly 60,000 patients throughout all of 2005. The name, VITAS, is derived from the Latin word for lives. It symbolizes the VITAS mission: To preserve the quality of life for those who have a limited time to live.

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