VITAS Innovative Hospice Care(R) Recognized for Diversity

VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®’s dedication to diversity and community outreach was recognized by the Greater Miami Society of Human Resource Management (GMSHRM), which awarded the company a prestigious Diversity Award at a recent "Celebration of Diversity” awards presentation. With 57% of its workplace comprised of minorities and a nearly 30-year commitment to serving terminally-ill patients of every age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and income, VITAS has a demonstrated record of outreach to diverse populations. The Diversity award recognizes organizations and companies that foster an inclusive work environment in which all employees are inspired to contribute their best, strengthened by their different perspectives, backgrounds and life experiences, according to GMSHRM. In its application, VITAS, one of the nation’s oldest and largest providers of end-of-life care, highlighted the diversity of both its Miami-based corporate office and its three hospice programs in South Florida. VITAS employs nearly 2500 people in South Florida and cares for more than 3000 patients and their families in the area every day. "Since our inception in Miami in 1978, VITAS has been an innovator in employing a diverse workforce and in meeting the end-of-life needs of patients of all cultures, backgrounds and disease processes,” says Tim O’Toole, VITAS chief executive officer. "We work every day to live up to our simple but heartfelt values: ‘Patients and families come first’ and ‘We take care of each other.’” VITAS has received numerous awards recognizing its commitment to diversity, including the first-ever Caring Partners Award presented in 2002 by the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa and the first-ever Dr. Marian Gray Secundy Sankofa Award presented in 2004 by the Initiative to Improve Palliative Care for African Americans. VITAS also received the 2004 Rainbow/PUSH Health Trailblazer Award for its efforts to expand awareness of and access to hospice services for African Americans. To date, 23 VITAS hospice programs have been certified as Jewish Hospices by the National Institute for Jewish Hospice (NIJH). VITAS provides nursing scholarships through the National Black Nurses Association. In South Florida, VITAS is active in or has made presentations to La Liga Contra el Cancer/League Against Cancer; the Mayor’s Initiative for Aging Subcommittee for Miami-Dade County; the Alliance on Aging’s Focus Group on Hispanic Health Disparities and the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad – South Florida Chapter. VITAS hosts "Celebrando La Vida” on WQBA 1140 AM. VITAS representatives regularly speak about hospice and end-of-life issues on Spanish-language radio programs. VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®, a pioneer and leader in the hospice movement since 1978, is the nation’s largest provider of end-of-life care. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS operates 43 hospice programs in 16 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin). VITAS, which has evolved from its founding as a volunteer organization by a United Methodist minister and a registered nurse, today employs 8,990 professionals who care for terminally ill patients daily, primarily in the patients’ homes, but also in the company’s 27 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE), VITAS at the conclusion of the third quarter of 2007, reported an average daily census of 11,529; VITAS served more than 63,000 patients throughout all of 2006. The name, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs), 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.