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Welcome to Hospice East Bay

Hospice East Bay provides compassionate end-of-life care to terminally ill patients, while offering emotional, spiritual, and grief support for the entire family. As a not-for-profit organization, we accept all medically qualified patients, regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. We also offer bereavement services at no cost to the entire community. We have been serving patients and families in our community since 1977.

Our Mission

Hospice East Bay is committed to providing the hospice and palliative care services that support and comfort people and their loved ones through the final stages of life.

Our Vision

To strengthen our role as a community leader in quality hospice, palliative care, and grief support; to build an environment of collaboration, celebration, opportunity and growth, allowing us to embrace the changes that our patients experience.

Leadership team

Bill Musick

Interim President & CEO

Emma Baron, RN, MPA, CPHQ, CPHRM

VP, Chief Clinical Services Officer

Rahel Legesse, MPA

VP, Interim Chief Financial Officer

Stacey Manley, MPA

VP, Chief of Community Engagement

Marlo Johnston, SPHR

VP, Chief Human Resources Officer

Mina Chang, MD, HMDC, FAAHPM

Chief Medical Officer

Debra Batten, RN

Chief Compliance Officer

Mats Wallin

Chief Development Officer

Marlo Johnston, SPHR

VP, Chief Human Resources Officer

Board of Directors

Michelle Lopes
Chair

Bill Musick
Interim President & CEO

Marcia Gerg
Vice Chair

Sue Burroughs
Secretary

John Kopchik, Jr.
Treasurer

Frank Puglisi
Past Chair

Lindsay Duggan
Lorna Lee
Anneke Reza
Eric Rudney
Cindy Silva
Larry Sly
Dr. Paulina Van

Associate Emeriti

Burt Bassler
Lynn Brady
Jamie McLanahan Gerson
Sharon Iversen
Dennis Ross
Ernie Wintter

Physicians & Nurse Practitioners

Smita Chandra, MD
Robert Cole, MD
Russ Granich, MD
Michael Jensen-Akula, MD

Sonja Kassuba, MD
Guy Micco, MD
Walter Peters, MD
Sally Sample, MD

Ann Stevens, MD
Clara Triane, MD
Natalia Zielkiewicz, MD
Jaisleen Dhaliwal, NP

Janice Dolan, NP
Patricia Leads, NP
Caitanya Min, NP

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CHAP Accreditation

The Community Health Accreditation Program, Inc. (CHAP) has granted a 3-year accreditation to Hospice of the East Bay for achieving the CHAP Standards of Excellence. The CHAP accreditation process considers management, quality, client outcomes, adequate resources and long term viability. CHAP Accreditation publicly certifies that an organization has voluntarily met the highest standards of excellence for home and/or community based health care.

Licensing and Certification:

  • California-licensed hospice agency
  • California-licensed to operate a hospice facility (Bruns House)
  • Medicare-and Medi-Cal-certified for hospice care
  • Not-for-profit organization 501(c)(3)
  • Accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP)

Hospice East Bay is a member of:

  • National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO)
  • National Partnership for Hospice Innovation (NPHI)
  • California Association for Health Services at Home
  • Quality-of-Life Coalition – Contra Costa County
  • Social Health and Resource Exchange (SHARE)
  • East Bay Leadership Council
Hospice East Bay is not affiliated with any other hospice program. For more information on hospice programs in the San Francisco Bay area or the United States, go to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website at nhpco.org. You may view our Notice of Privacy Practices here. East Bay Integrated Care, Inc. (EBIC) does business as Hospice East Bay, Bruns House, Palliative Care of the East Bay, and Hospice Thrift Shoppes. Patient services are provided without regard to race, religion, age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, communicable disease, or place of national origin.

The No Surprises Act* introduced new requirements for health care providers to protect individuals from surprise medical bills. As a client of Hospice East Bay, please know that:

You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your health care will cost. Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have certain types of health care coverage or who are not using certain types of health care coverage an estimate of their bill for health care items and services before those items or services are provided.

*Title I (No Surprises Act) of Division BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) amended title XXVII of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act).

Pursuant to Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act:

Discrimination is against the law. Hospice East Bay complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. Hospice East Bay does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

Hospice East Bay provides free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as:

Qualified sign language interpreters
Written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats, other formats)
Provides free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as:
Qualified interpreters
Information written in other languages
If you need these services, contact your nurse, social worker, or counselor. If you believe that Hospice East Bay has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex, you can file a grievance with:

Emma Baron, Vice-President of Quality, Education, & Compliance
3470 Buskirk Avenue, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
(925) 887-5678 | FAX: (925) 887-5667
You can file a grievance in person or by mail, fax, or email. If you need help filing a grievance, our compliance officer, Emma Baron, is available to help you. You can also file a civil rights complaint with the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal
https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf

Or by mail or phone at:

US Department of Health & Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 509F, HHH Building, Washington, DC 20201
1-800-368-1019, 800-537-7697 (TDD)

Complaint forms are available at

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html

Hospice East Bay Policy for Supporting Patients who express interest in or acquire life-ending medication under the End-of-Life Option Act.

Hospice East Bay recognizes the patient’s right to make choices that fit his or her personal goals of care, values and beliefs. That right extends to the legal right under California law (End of Life Option Act) to end their lives with prescribed medication. No patient will be denied services by Hospice East Bay based on interest or active participation in the Act.

Current hospice patients who express interest in the End-of-Life Option Act will be given the opportunity to explore their reasons further with the interdisciplinary team. Hospice staff members and volunteers will be helped to explore their own beliefs and values and will be educated in responding respectfully to patients.

Staff members or volunteers who wish to not work with patients who intend to pursue or participate in the Act shall support Hospice East Bay to ensure a smooth transition of care to maintain patient dignity and comfort.

Procedure

All Hospice East Bay employees will be educated on the agency’s policy concerning the Act. Volunteers will be offered the same education.

Hospice East Bay recognizes that each individual employee/volunteer will need to thoughtfully consider whether it is within their own ability, values and beliefs to provide care for patients who are requesting medication to hasten death. It is not the intent of Hospice East Bay to assume staff/volunteer involvement. It is the employee’s or volunteer’s responsibility to inform their manager of their wish to care for patients who are requesting medication to hasten death, including discussion and requests for information. Managers will be responsible for assessing and, if needed, reassigning staff or volunteers to ensure excellent patient care.

Employees who engage directly with patients will be educated at orientation and ongoing on the following:

  • How to respond when a patient mentions the Act or indicates interest in acquiring end of life medication;
  • Maintaining a nonjudgmental stance to preserve patient dignity and to avoid communicating any negativity;
  • How to utilize patient interest to engage in dialogue about end of life wishes or concerns with current plan of care;
  • How to carry out the agency’s best practice standards for responding to requests;
  • Their role in providing ongoing care.

Employees/volunteers who choose to opt out of providing care will request a reassignment from their supervisor. These employees/volunteers will work to ensure patients do not feel devalued or abandoned.

No employee or volunteer shall attempt to influence in any way another employee or volunteer in his/her beliefs or opinions regarding the Act. The agency will fully respect the personal beliefs of all employees and volunteers without question or discrimination.

Need grief support?

Talk to someone.

Fill out this form and someone will be in touch with you promptly. Call to learn more today:  (925) 887-5678