Agreed we do not provide counsel to other employees – we have offered information about grief, and group ritual space in times of tragedy, or staff loss. We too encourage use of EAP and have a list of specific counselors in our area who are well versed in providing support for grief.
Joelle Osterhaus, MSW, LCSW, LICSW, ACHP-SW (she/her)
KPNW Hospice & Palliative Care Psychosocial Services Manager
KPNW Interim Palliative Care Operations Manager
Kaiser Permanente Northwest
Continuing Care Services
2701 NW Vaughn St., Ste. 140
Portland, OR 97210-5344
Cell Phone: (503) 312-0819
Main Office: (503) 499-5200 or (800)448-0838
Fax: (503) 499-5535
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Original Message:
Sent: 3/12/2021 2:18:00 PM
From: Karen Monts
Subject: RE: Bereavement Counseling to Staff
We really encourage staff to utilize our EAP program and encourage employees not to counsel fellow employees. However if the person who died was on our program, we are statewide, so we do have an ability to have a counselor provide follow up who lives in another part of the state, another region of our organization, and does not know the employee personally. However it gets tricky when there it is a fellow grief counselor because they all know each other. But I do like that idea of a collaborative relationship with another hospice.
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Karen Monts
Director, Grief Support Services & Practice Manager, Counseling Services
Northstar Care Community
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-04-2021 14:28
From: Beverly Lutz
Subject: Bereavement Counseling to Staff
Greetings,
I was wondering if your agency has a courtesy arrangement with another local hospice agency to provide bereavement counseling to each other's employees? It is not an ideal situation for a bereavement counselor employed by Agency A to provide bereavement counseling to employees also at Agency A because of the prior relationship of being a coworker and, in some cases, friends. We have many staff who have been with our agency for over a decade and have become friends with the bereavement counselors. This can present a problem, if and when, that employee needs bereavement counseling after having their loved one cared for by their employer. I wanted to find out if any hospice agencies have formed partnerships with other local agencies to "take care of" each other's employees for bereavement purposes. Currently, our bereavement counselors do see their coworkers for counseling with strict boundaries in place but again, it is not ideal.
Would love to hear how other agencies are handling this. Thanks!
Beverly
Beverly Lutz, MSW, LCSW
Manager - Psychosocial & Counseling Services
Gaston Hospice & Palliative Care
CaroMont Health
258 E. Garrison Boulevard
Gastonia, NC 28054
Main: 704.861.8405
Desk: 4518
Fax: 704.865.0590
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