Beacon Hospice Acquires West River Care New England's Largest

Hospice Provider Expands Its Reach with Latest Venture

CHARLESTOWN, MA (December 16, 2009) – Beacon Hospice, Inc. (www.beaconhospice.com), a leading provider of high-quality end-of-life care, announces its acquisition of West River Care, with offices in Needham and West Springfield. West River Care provided end-of-life care to community based patients and to residents at more than two dozen nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout Massachusetts, including the Wingate Healthcare facilities. Beacon Hospice will now provide end-of-life care to patients at all of these facilities, and provide for the patients and families who are in need of hospice services. Beacon Hospice’s interdisciplinary team of physicians, skilled nurses, home health aides, social workers, bereavement coordinators and volunteers provide care to hospice patients in their private homes, in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. The company currently provides care for patients in more than 400 communities throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Maine. Beacon Hospice will introduce its award winning end-of-life services, such as “Deep Harbors,”™ an innovative program in person-centered dementia care. Beacon’s experts utilize environmental interventions and preferred medication treatment algorithms whereby staff members are trained to assist with nutrition and feeding, hydration, skin assessment, environmental stressors, non-verbal pain and behavior assessment. Beacon’s services will also include its “Navigator”™ team, which is Beacon Hospice’s Palliative Care Program, a consultation service whereby the palliative team works with the patient and offers recommendations for managing symptoms, including pain, fatigue, anxiety, nausea, restlessness, and incontinence. It also assists in addressing unmet needs of symptom management and psychosocial issues. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to provide end-of-life care to more patients and their families throughout Massachusetts, and we welcome the West River Care staff to the Beacon team,” says Betty Brennan, CEO of Beacon Hospice. "We want to deliver the best care possible; our goal is to be the standard by which hospice is judged."

Beacon Hospice Inc., headquartered in Charlestown, Mass., was established in 1995 to serve the needs of terminally ill patients. The Company was founded on the philosophy that all patients should be able to choose the manner in which they wish to live out their lives and should receive the highest quality of care possible. Beacon Hospice cares for patients out of 22 offices in more than 400 communities in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.