CC 2019-11-12_06a Honorary Proclamation_Hospice Palliative Care MonthItem 6.a. - Page 1
OF
HONORARY PROCLAMATION DECLARING
NOVEMBER 2019 AS
"NATIONAL HOSPICE PALLIATIVE CARE MONTH"
WHEREAS, hospice and palliative care empower people facing a serious or life-limiting illness to live as
fully as possible, ensuring people dignity, choice, and quality of life; and
WHEREAS, the hospice model involves an interdisciplinary, team-oriented approach of treatment,
including expert medical care, quality symptom control, and comprehensive pain management as a
foundation of care; and
WHEREAS, beyond providing physical treatment, hospice attends to the patient's emotional, spiritual
and family needs, and provides family services like respite care and bereavement counseling; and
WHEREAS; in an increasingly fragmented and broken health care system, hospice is one of the few
sectors that demonstrates how health care can -and should -work at its best for its patient; and
WHEREAS, a growing body of peer-reviewed research indicates that timely access to hospice and
palliative care can decrease hospitalizations and Emergency Room visits and increase quality of life for
patients and family caregivers and every year more than 1.S6 million Americans living with life-limiting
illness, and their families, received care from the nation's hospice programs in communities throughout
the United States; and
WHEREAS, more than 355,000 trained volunteers contribute 16 million hours of service to hospice
programs annually in the U.S.; and
WHEREAS, Central Coast Hospice, Dignity Health Hospice, Hospice of San Luis Obispo County and
Wilshire Hospice provide hospice care and bereavement counseling respectively to individuals within
the County of San Luis Obispo, and hospice and palliative care organizations are advocates and
educators about advance care planning that help individuals make decisions about the care they want.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that I, Caren Ray Russom, Mayor of the City of Arroyo Grande, do
hereby proclaim November 2019 as "National Hospice and Palliative care Month", and encourage
citizens to increase their understanding and awareness of care at the end of life and to observe this
month with appropriate activities and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
Seal of the City of Arroyo Grande to be affixed this 12th day of November 2019.
CAREN RAY RUSSOM, MAYOR
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Item 6.a. - Page 2