Hospice of Southern Illinois is proud to participate in the We Honor Veterans program. Conducted by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), We Honor Veterans is a national hospice awareness campaign whose mission is to create Hospice-Veteran Partnerships (HVP). HVPs are coalitions of VA facilities, hospices and others working together to ensure the providing of excellent end-of-life care for the approximately 680,000 U.S. Veterans who pass away each year. Most Veterans are not enrolled in VA and may not know about end-of-life services and benefits available to them, including the Medicare Hospice Benefit and VA-paid hospice care. HVPs help Veterans obtain access to hospice and palliative care at the time of their need.

At Hospice of Southern Illinois, new patients are asked about their military service and, if they were in the military, more related information is gathered by the Hospice. This additional information will help determine what type of care for which the patient is eligible based on the date and length of their service. Also, Hospice of Southern Illinois works closely with the VA to expedite the end-of-life benefits to ensure that they are available to the patients and survivors as quickly as possible, sometimes shortening the process by up to one year.