OUR MISSION
Our mission is to expand the impact of community based palliative care and hospice care through the execution of shared strategies to improve care outcomes and enhance the patient experience while reducing the overall cost of care for seriously ill patients of all ages.
74% of WV population in service area
946+ Average daily palliative patient census
The West Virginia Hospice and Palliative Care Network is made up of six high-performing hospice and palliative care organizations from around the state.
These providers realized joining together in this initiative would make expanding care and developing new strategies more achievable.
Our desire is to create, expand, and enhance relationships with Managed Care Organizations through innovative programming and alternative payment arrangements.
OUR MEMBERS
This network is made up of hospice and palliative care organizations in the state of West Virginia with the desire to create, expand, and enhance relationships with Managed Care Organizations through innovative programming and alternative payment arrangements. All members provide hospice and palliative services to the communities they serve.
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WVHPCN contracts with Strategic Health Care for Network Management Services.
OUR BOARD
Chris Rawlings, Chair
Kanawha Hospice Care, Inc.
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Melanie Hall, Vice Chair
Hospice of Huntington/Tri-State LifeCare
Nikki Bigiarelli, Secretary
Hospice of the Panhandle
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Janett Green, Treasurer
Hospice of Southern West Virginia
Andrea Hale, Immediate Past Chair
Valley Hospice
NETWORK ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM
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GRANT SWEMBA
Vice President of Contracting & Alternative Payment Initiatives
As Vice President of Contracting and Alternative Payment Initiatives at Strategic Health Care, Grant brings over 20 years of comprehensive post-acute care knowledge across multiple service domains including skilled nursing, assisted living, home health, hospice, outpatient rehabilitation, and adult day care. His financial and operational contract development expertise is focused on building sustainability and ensuring that mandates are met. He offers essential knowledge vital to the development of effective alternative payment initiatives, including value-based reimbursement and pay for performance models focused on quality outcomes and reduced spending.
CARLY DRAEGER
Manager of Contracting & Process Development
As the Manager of Contracting & Process Development at Strategic Health Care, Carly brings over ten years of experience in the managed care industry. Carly has worked for national health insurance organizations where she negotiated physician, ancillary, value based, and behavior health agreements while also mentoring the Provider Contract Specialists. She also has experience in Medicare marketing compliance regulations.
JOE RUSSELL, CAE
Vice President of Network Management & Contracting
Joe Russell, CAE is a health care policy expert with extensive experience in public policy, lobbying, advocacy, managed care, and project management among other areas. He has built strong relationships throughout the country and Washington D.C. through a keen understanding of strategy, problem solving, and politics. Prior to joining the Managed Care Solutions team at Strategic Health Care, he served as executive director for the Ohio Council for Home Care Hospice (OCHCH) where he founded the Ohio Community at Home Network (OCHN) in 2019, which was the first community-based and clinically integrated provider managed care network in the country. He holds a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Toledo and is a Certified Association Executive (CAE).