MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- UnitedHealthcare and VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® announced a new network relationship that provides UnitedHealthcare commercial and Medicare health plan customers in South Florida access to VITAS’ services.
“UnitedHealthcare is committed to improving and supporting individuals’ health and well-being throughout all stages of their life, including the needs that arise in end-of-life care,” said Nick Zaffiris, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of South Florida. “VITAS is an important provider of hospice-care services in South Florida, and we know our customers appreciate having access to the hospice’s outstanding services.”
“UnitedHealthcare and VITAS are the recognized leaders in many of the local markets we serve,” said Tim O’Toole, CEO, VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®. “Working with UnitedHealthcare will ensure that VITAS can continue to meet the ever-increasing demand for quality, compassionate, responsive end-of-life care for individuals and their families seeking to maximize quality of life when they or their loved one have a limited time to live.”
VITAS provides end-of-life care for adults and children suffering from a wide range of terminal illnesses including cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease, liver disease, kidney disease, multiple sclerosis, ALS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and AIDS. VITAS cares for patients and their loved ones through 45 hospice programs in the following states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, serves more than 1.8 million Florida residents with a health care provider network statewide of more than 27,000 physicians and 220 hospitals.
About VITAS
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®, a pioneer and leader in the hospice movement since 1978, is the nation’s leading provider of end-of-life care. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS operates 45 hospice programs in 16 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin). VITAS, which has evolved from its founding as a volunteer organization by a United Methodist minister and a registered nurse, today employs 10,129 professionals who care for terminally ill patients daily, primarily in the patients’ homes, but also in the company’s 31 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the third quarter of 2010, VITAS reported an average daily census of 12,857; VITAS served more than 67,000 patients throughout all of 2009. The name, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs), is derived from the Latin word for lives. It symbolizes the VITAS mission: To preserve the quality of life for those who have a limited time to live. Visit www.vitas.com.
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE) operates two wholly owned subsidiaries: VITAS Healthcare and Roto-Rooter.
For more information about VITAS’ National Accounts initiatives, contact: Kal Mistry, Chief Administrative Officer/SVP, at 305.350.5990.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare (www.unitedhealthcare.com) provides a full spectrum of consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services to individuals, public sector employers and businesses of all sizes, including more than half of the Fortune 100 companies. The company organizes access to quality, affordable health care services on behalf of approximately 25 million individual consumers, contracting directly with more than 650,000 physicians and care professionals and 5,000 hospitals to offer them broad, convenient access to services nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.
CONTACT:
UnitedHealthcare
Tracey Lempner, 770-300-3573
[email protected]
or
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®
Kal Mistry, 305-350-5990
[email protected]
or
Megan Carella, APR, 352-560-3415
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America California Florida Minnesota Ohio
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Hospitals Professional Services Insurance Consumer Hispanic Managed Care
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