Hospice has new director

Hospice of McDowell County has a new executive director and four new board members.
The board of directors of Hospice of McDowell County announced Tuesday a new executive director has been hired and she will assume that position in early January.
Catherine "Kit" Cosgrove, the new director, said she is very excited to be coming back home to western North Carolina where she has many friends and family. Cosgrove, 56, served at Mountain Area Hospice, now Community CarePartners Hospice and Palliative Care in Asheville, for 17 years and was director of operations when she left in 2001. While there, she provided some advice and encouragement for Hospice of McDowell County in its formative years.
Among her accomplishments in Asheville were merging the human resource functions of six not-for-profit post-acute care services to establish Community CarePartners and achieving the first accreditation by Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in 1996. Her civic achievements were Pacesetter chairwoman for the Asheville Buncombe United Way in 1999 and 2001 and 2001 Tribute to Women in Industry award from the Asheville YMCA. She was recognized professionally in 2002 by being named as chairwoman-elect for the board of directors of the Carolinas Center for Hospice and End Of Life Care. She earned a B.A. degree from St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg and a Masters of Public Affairs from Western Carolina University.
Cosgrove served as dxecutive director of Hospice of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. from 2001 to 2007. There, she was responsible for the successful planning, development, and building of a 20-bed inpatient facility. She also implemented a palliative care program in two hospitals and achieved a 50 percent increase in patient census. For the past two years, she has served as vice president of clinical operations of Hospice of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio where she managed two inpatient facilities, hospice home care, and hospice care in long-term care facilities across eight counties with a daily census of over 600 patients.
Hospice Board members Kay Blanton and Jane Schroeder co-chaired the Search Committee to select a new executive director. Other members of the Search Committee were staff and community members. Schroeder said "We are very pleased that we were able to attract a leader with Kit's experience and accomplishments as our new executive director. With her leadership, Hospice of McDowell County will provide exceptional care, close to home, and make hospice care available to everyone who needs it in McDowell County."
The board of directors had named in July then board member Ray McKesson as interim executive director during the search process for a new executive director. McKesson had been a Hospice board member and the organization's treasurer since he retired in 2007 as vice president for finance and administration at McDowell Technical Community College, where he had worked since 1981. McKesson will resume serving on the board next year.
Under his leadership, Jill Huffman, patient care coordinator, strengthened the patient care staff by adding a full-time staff registered nurse and four part-time PRN registered nurses. Recently, two part-time receptionists were added. Operations have been very successful with the average daily patient census exceeding 30 for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2007 and meeting the pillar goal. The staff served 160 patients in the year ending Sept. 30 and achieved high-quality scores on family surveys conducted by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. A total of 102 volunteers gave 2,251 hours of service, saving $42,201 and 2009 donations exceeded those in 2008.
On Tuesday, four new board members and 2010 officers were also elected at the annual public meeting, which was held at the Corpening Memorial YMCA.
Following the election of the new board members for 2010 and serving three-year terms, Richard Wood, current board president said, "We are fortunate to have four new members all with outstanding professional qualifications and civic service in McDowell County."
Jan Ramsey recently retired from McDowell High School where she was a counselor for seven years following 13 years at East Junior High in the same capacity. She earned a sociology degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master's Degree in counseling from Western Carolina University. Ramsey was a child welfare social worker at the McDowell County Department of Social Services for seven years. She currently serves on the Community Resource Council for Marion Correctional Institution and is married to Clerk of Superior Court Don Ramsey.
Steve Brown has more than 24 years of experience in the financial industry and assists business owners and individuals in achieving their financial goals. He earned his B.A. degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter) from The American College. Brown is currently president of the McDowell Chamber of Commerce and vice president of the Foothills Community Band. His wife, Pam, is a registered nurse at the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville.
Charles E. Burgin has recently retired from senior partner in the law firm of Dameron, Burgin Parker & Jackson, P.A. He earned a B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill and a LL.B from Duke University School of Law. His specialty was trial attorney specializing in the defense of medical malpractice cases and is past president of the North Carolina Bar Association. He is listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America, and is a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. He has served on the boards of MACA, Southmountain Children's Home, McDowell County Rec Commission, First Union National Bank and Marion General Hospital. He is currently on McDowell County Mountain Rescue Team and is chairman of "Outlook" Project for McDowell County. Charles is married to Ellen Salsbury "Bunnie" Burgin, who is active in civic affairs including the McDowell Foundation board.
Harriett Thomas is the finance director for the city of Marion and was formerly employed as an accountant with Johnson, Price & Sprinkle certified public accounting firm. She has been serving as interim treasurer for the Hospice of McDowell County board since McKesson was appointed interim executive director. She is a CPA and earned her degrees from McDowell Technical Community College and Mayland Community College and attended UNC-Asheville. Thomas is past president of the board of McDowell Chamber of Commerce and MACA. Her husband, Bryan, is an eighth-grade science teacher at East McDowell Junior High.
The board of directors elected as officers for 2010: Veda Rowe as president, Garland Norton as vice president, Ray McKesson as treasurer, Harriett Thomas as assistant treasurer and Jan Ramsey as secretary. Other board members continuing to serve in 2010 are Marilyn Collins, Dr. George Ellis, Rev. Barry Gouge, Carroll Miller and Jane Schroeder. McKesson thanked members who are rotating off the board for their dedicated service: Richard Wood, Kay Blanton and Dr. David DuBose.
Hospice of McDowell County provides a team of professionals and volunteers who provide medical care and support for the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of patients whose illness is no longer curable—and the patients' family and caregivers. Hospice of McDowell County was founded in 1994 and experienced growth of the Hospice program to its height in 2005 with average daily census of 42 patients. The community contributed funds to build a modern and functional new program facility, the Center of Hope, which opened in September of 2006. In the new building, a special room was outfitted for new program, A Safe Harbor, which is a six-week support program for children grieving over the loss of a loved one. The program, unique in the county, assists children and their families in working through difficult grief and loss processes. The program has been completed by 121 children so far and is offered free of charge as a community service.
If you have any questions or would like to ask a Hospice representative to come speak to your organization, please call Sim Butler or Ray McKesson at 828-652-1318.
If you would like to refer a patient to Hospice, please call Jill Huffman, patient care coordinator at 652-1318.