Hospice Owner Paying It Forward To Employees

About 100 employees at Humanity Hospice got a nice little surprise last Friday.

Owner Keisha Jackson gave all of her full-time employees a $1,000 hazard pay bonus.

“It made the difference between me paying my rent late or on time this month," said Richard Coleman, a case manager for Humanity Hospice. 

Jackson said it felt like the right thing to do. She used money from the federal stimulus package. Part-time employees also got $500.

“It’s important to take care of my team, and I think that’s one small way I can give back to them," Jackson said.

Jackson’s team has been tested the last couple months, having to change the way they provide hospice care when they can’t visit patients in locked-down facilities.

“A big part of our job is not just medical, but it’s emotional support, and it’s really hard to do when you can’t be there and hold their hand," Coleman said.

So they’ve come up with other ways to connect, like birthday parades and window paintings.

“The residents in the facilities are missing their families, they haven’t seen them in two months, so to be able to brighten that up a little bit and let them know we’re thinking of them," said Thom Bishop-Miller, Humanity Hospice director of business development.

Jackson says some of her employees have been forced to isolate from their own families for weeks at a time after treating COVID-19 patients, just another reason she felt this hazard pay was the right thing to do.