A Black-Owned Hospice Serves the Underserved

André Lee, Administrator and Co-Founder of Heart and Soul Hospice (left) and Keisha Mason, Director of Nursing
Credit: Erica Calhoun for NPR

Casting light in a dark place is Heart and Soul Hospice, a small organization in Nashville, Tennessee. This Black-owned hospice’s mission is to “to insure that appropriate end of life health care is available to ALL members of the metro-Nashville area, particularly those traditionally underserved in our city.” That underserved population is the Black community.

A Huge Disparity in Hospice Care

Hospice use is much lower for the Black community than it is for the white.

According to Dr. Kimberly S. Johnson, a researcher and physician specializing in geriatrics and palliative care, African Americans comprise only 8% of hospice patients, while representing 12% of the U.S. population.  Johnson finds this surprising because Black people are more likely to suffer from life-limiting conditions such as cancer and heart disease than whites.

In terms of Medicare beneficiaries, there is also a gap between white and Black users.  At the time of death, approximately 50% of white Medicare patients were in hospice compared to 40% of Black Medicare patients. 

Heart and Soul seeks to change that.

Chief investors are the Reverend Sandy McClain, David Turner, owner of Detroit’s CNS Hospice and Andre Lee, a former hospital administrator at Meharry Medical College. The organization seeks to become more of a presence in Black communities through diversity initiatives, especially in hiring Black nurses. 

In an interview with NPR, Lee shared, “A lot of hospices don’t employ enough Black people. We all feel comfortable when you see someone over there that looks like you.”

A Black hospice patient receives care.

Care in Action at This Black-Owned Hospice

A recent beneficiary of Heart and Soul’s care is Mary Murphy. She was reluctant to use this hospice for her mother, an Alzheimer’s patient, but needed the emotional support. “Wasn’t no doctor going to come here, hold my hand, stay here until the funeral home came for her,” she says about the day her mother died.

Funded by Medicare, Medicaid, and private health plans, not only is this service free, but it’s also priceless. “If you don’t feel like, ‘Oh my God, thank God I have hospice,’ if you can’t say that, then we’re doing something wrong,” says Keisha Mason, who is Heart and Soul’s director of nursing.

The Key Is Education

To better serve this population, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), has created a toolkit and guide as outreach initiatives for Black patients. Reaching out to Black pastors and other centers of the community also helps correct previously held assumptions and raises awareness.

With increased presence in the Black community, more hospices like Heart and Soul can provide this most vital benefit to African Americans.