NEWS
HELIOS CARE Honored by The John A Hartford Foundation as a Silver Winner of the Tipping Point Challenge
Oneonta, NY— Helios Care was selected as a Silver Winner in The John A. Hartford
Foundation Tipping Point Challenge, a national competition focused on the submission of
innovative initiatives that have made-or will make-positive, breakthrough change in the care of
the serious illness. The Challenge is sponsored by the Center to Advance Palliative Care
(CAPC) and The John A. Hartford Foundation. Helios Care was recognized as one of the top
eight of the national applications.
Helios Care was recognized for its Palliative Care program, Choices. The Choices
program is designed to help individuals with a serious illness manage their symptoms,
increasing their comfort, and improving the quality of life for them and their caregivers. The
program includes nursing and social work care, telehealth and 24/7 telephone support provided
in the safety of the home. The Choices program is funded by The Mother Cabrini Health
Foundation and is provided free of charge to patients who qualify.
“We are proud to receive this honor from The John A. Hartford Foundation,” said Dan
Ayres, President and CEO of Helios Care. “This national recognition reinforces our commitment
to implementing an innovative population health approach which significantly improves the lives
of our local community members. We are also truly grateful to The Mother Cabrini Health
Foundation (MCFH) for awarding us funding in 2020 to provide the Choices palliative care
program benefitting our residents.”
“Access to healthcare in our rural region is a significant challenge, one the innovative
Choices program was designed to address,” said Gail Ciccarello, ACHPN, Palliative Care Nurse
Practitioner. “Care provided in the home not only significantly improves outcomes for the
patients and decreases caregiver burden, but it is also the most efficient way to reduce
emergency room visits and hospital admissions.”
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The John A. Hartford Foundation Tipping Point Challenge is a national competition
designed to catalyze the spread of skills, ideas, and solutions that will improve health care
delivery for all people living with serious illness. The goal of this round was to catalyze
innovation that will make positive, breakthrough change in the care of serious illness. The 10-
month national Challenge is sponsored by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) and
The John A. Hartford Foundation and was open to all health care organizations, settings,
disciplines, and specialties across the US.
“We congratulate each of the Tipping Point Challenge winners for their innovative and
groundbreaking approaches to ensuring that older adults and others living with serious illness
have access to the highest quality health care,” said Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, president of
The John A. Hartford Foundation. “Because of their work, patients and families will experience
improved interactions with better-trained health care providers, resulting in better quality of life.”