VANCOUVER, Wash., Aug. 30, 2012—Prestige Care, Inc., a leader in exceptional senior living and skilled nursing care, announces that it has joined with nationally recognized hospice provider Bristol Hospice, LLC, a subsidiary of Avalon Health Care, Inc., to form Bristol Hospice and Homecare Northwest, LLC which will offer comprehensive home health and hospice care to Portland-area residents and their families. Together they will offer an expanding continuum of care that focuses on a family-centered approach to providing specialized clinical care to hospice and home-care patients by compassionate caregivers and interdisciplinary professionals. The joint venture will operate as Bristol Hospice and Homecare Northwest and will utilize Bristol’s proven care and management model, which is successfully replicated in several regions across the United States.

“At Prestige, it is our privilege and commitment to personally touch the lives of all of those who are members of our family of care communities,” said Prestige Care President and CEO Harold Delamarter. “In Bristol and its parent organization, Avalon, we’ve found care providers whose care philosophy so closely aligns with our core values that together we’ll provide the highest level of compassion, respect and quality care to residents entering life’s final stages."

Prestige’s care philosophy is rooted in a set of shared core values that deliver on a promise to provide exceptional care, guided by a compassionate heart. Across the company, Prestige team members are guided by the four pillars of the company’s core values: respect, integrity, commitment, and trust, and they strive to personally touch lives every day.

“Our mission to embrace a reverence for life and build a continuum of care that serves the entire community fits seamlessly with Prestige’s values-driven approach to providing quality care,” said Christie Franklin, president of Bristol Hospice and Homecare-Northwest, LLC. “We look forward to growing our relationship in Oregon and beyond in the years to come.”

The first hospice and home-care programs will be based in Oregon’s Clackamas County. The programs will voluntarily seek Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) status—a process which includes access to and adherence with a set of quality and performance standards geared to drive performance above the minimum standard.

Bristol Hospice programs provide hospice services to meet the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual needs of patients and their families and caregivers. An interdisciplinary group of professionals and volunteers develops an individualized plan of care which includes, as appropriate, the following services: nursing, physician, home health aide, counseling, spiritual support, therapy, dietary, counseling, volunteers, durable medical equipment, supplies and bereavement services.

Bristol Homecare programs are focused on the care continuum model. The Homecare Programs are designed to provide the following services: skilled nursing, therapy (speech, physical and occupational), home health aide and medical social worker assistance. “Bristol’s forward-thinking and well-respected approach to home health and hospice care are integral to offering a more complete continuum of care for our residents,” Delamarter said.

The new company will expand Prestige's ability to provide comprehensive hospice and home health care to residents within its family of Portland-area senior living, rehabilitation, and skilled nursing centers. Bristol Hospice and Homecare-Northwest services will also be available to residents outside of the Prestige Care network. Learn more at www.prestigecare.com and www.bristolhospice.com.