Hospice of Chattanooga, the oldest and biggest hospice organization in Southeast Tennessee, announced Monday it is creating Alleo Health System to serve as the parent organization of the growing nonprofit family of service organizations for Hospice in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.
Alleo Health companies
* Hospice of Chattanooga has provided medical, emotional and spiritual care from palliative care to hospice services in the 22-county Chattanooga region * Good Shepherd Hospice provides hospice care in Macon, Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties in North Carolina * Kangaroo Kidz seeks to enhance the quality of life for children with life-limiting illnesses * Palliative Care Services is the Chattanooga area's leading provider of ongoing treatments throughout a serious illness, without a terminal diagnosis. The goal is to manage symptoms to provide disease-specific education while supporting the patient.
"As we continue to grow and make a difference in the lives of even more people, it's important to have a name that is reflective of our capabilities and our reach," said Tracy Wood, president and CEO of Hospice of Chattanooga who joined the Chattanooga Hospice two years ago after working at other hospice organizations in Atlanta. "Over the last few years, Hospice of Chattanooga has experienced tremendous growth as we have expanded both in geographic reach and scope of services."
Alleo will oversee the Hospice of Chattanooga as well as the Good Shepherd Hospice which provides hospice care in four counties in western North Carolina. Other palliative care and children's programs will come under Alleo, which is being overseen by a 10-member board of directors comprised of health care and community leaders.
Combined, the new services provide care in 22 counties of Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina and Alleo has a staff of nearly 400 employees.
The network's name is derived from the word "allay," which means to alleviate and provide comfort.
For nearly 40 years, Hospice of Chattanooga has provided family-focused care to meet the medical, emotional, and spiritual needs of its patients during their end-of-life journey. Wood said the new name reflects the core principals of Hospice.
"With a renewed call to be ever future-forward and further-serving of our communities, we set out to find a name that conveys our passion, commitment and inspiration as an organization in the important work we do," she said in a statement.