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Hospice of Valley expands, opens office at Villa Maria center
VILLA MARIA, PA.
Hospice of the Valley has expanded its service area to western Pennsylvania with the opening of an office at the Villa Maria Community Center operated by the Sisters of the Humility of Mary.
The Villa Maria Community Center, 225 Villa Maria Road, is located off Evergreen Road in Lawrence County just east of the Ohio border. The faith-based, not-for-profit service is Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)/Medicare approved, and all staff members are licensed by the state of Pennsylvania.
The facility at Villa Maria is an office that facilitates hospice services to qualified patients in Mercer, Lawrence and Butler counties in Pennsylvania in their homes, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, hospitals, or anywhere the patient calls home, said Gerianne Costantini, clinical manager for the office.
Services include support for the patient and family from staff that is specially trained in end-of-life care. The staff includes a medical director, registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, hospice aides, social workers, a bereavement counselor and volunteers, Costantini said.
Hospice of the Valley also offers services in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio.
There has long been a need to open a Pennsylvania office, said Terry Kilbury, executive director of Hospice of the Valley.
“It’s appropriate that our Pennsylvania office is located at the Villa, which is where the Sisters of the Humility of Mary opened the first hospital in the Mahoning Valley,” he said.
The Sisters of the Humility of Mary opened their infirmary in 1879 to care for injured and ill railroad workers. They also cared for area neighbors during smallpox and influenza epidemics.
“We are proud to be located on the same hallowed ground where the sisters’ health-care ministry began,” Kilbury said.
For information, call Costantini at 724-964-1082.
Humility of Mary Health Partners is an integrated health system in the Youngstown/Warren area, a region of Catholic Health Partners, the largest health system in Ohio and one of the largest Catholic health systems in the United States. HMHP members, in addition to Hospice of the Valley, include St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, St. Joseph Health Center in Warren, St. Elizabeth Boardman Health Center, HM Home Health Services, The Assumption Village, Humility House and Laurel Lake.