HopeHealth, MJHS and Pikes Peak Hospice shift leadership ranks

Three hospice organizations have shifted their leadership ranks. HopeHealth and MJHS Health System have created entirely new executive roles to drive community outreach and operational growth, while Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care has promoted a long-term clinical leader to oversee its services, Hospice News reported.

HopeHealth targets the hospice “disconnect”

HopeHealth, which serves Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts, has appointed Helena Moronta as its director of community engagement. The role was created specifically to lead a new public outreach and education program designed to dismantle the barriers that often keep families from accessing hospice care until it is too late.

Moronta arrives with more than 30 years of experience in business development and strategic engagement, including a tenure at BayCoast Bank and board positions with the United Way of Rhode Island and the YMCA Southcoast. Her focus is not on clinical management, but on the sociological barriers—language, cultural beliefs, and historical mistrust of healthcare—that prevent marginalized communities from utilizing end-of-life services.

“For many individuals and families, hospice continues to be misunderstood as giving up hope … But we also have to recognize that these perceptions don’t exist in isolation,” Moronta said. “Cultural beliefs, language barriers, past experiences with healthcare and a lack of trust can all influence how individuals and families understand and approach end-of-life care.”

CEO and President Diana Franchitto noted that the primary challenge for hospice leaders is convincing the public that these services are about more than just the final stage of life. The goal is to provide educational resources long before a crisis occurs, ensuring families are informed of their options before they are forced to make split-second decisions under extreme emotional stress.

MJHS Health System brings back operational veteran

In New York, MJHS Health System has established a new Chief Operating Officer role, tapping Susan Lage to lead its home care, hospice, and palliative care operations. Lage is a familiar face at the organization, having started as a hospice social worker there in 2009.

After 15 years with MJHS, including a stint as senior vice president and business development of its home care, hospice and palliative care services, Lage left the organization to serve as senior vice president and hospice administrator at Calvary Hospice. In addition to the hospice and palliative care arms, Lage will oversee the MJHS Menorah Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care and Medical Associates PC.

President and CEO David Wagner stated that Lage’s combination of operational expertise and knowledge of the evolving healthcare marketplace positions the organization to enter a new phase of growth and innovation.

Clinical leadership shift at Pikes Peak

While HopeHealth and MJHS created new roles to expand their reach, Pikes Peak Hospice & Palliative Care in Colorado is leaning on internal continuity. The organization has promoted Ashley Brown to vice president of clinical services.

Brown has spent nine years with the organization, climbing from a nurse in the inpatient unit at Penrose Hospital to case manager, clinical manager, and eventually director of clinical services.

Pikes Peak operates as an affiliate of Care Synergy, a nonprofit group formed in 2014 that also includes The Denver Hospice, Pathways Hospice, Colorado Visiting Nurse Association, and Colorado PACE. President Dawn Darvalics credited Brown’s leadership as a key driver of the organization’s current staff satisfaction levels.

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