Lower Cape Fear LifeCare (LCFL) was recently recognized by HealthCarefirst with a 2021 Hospice Honors Award.

Award winners were announced in August, and LCFL, a nonprofit organization, was the only area hospice provider to be recognized with the award, a news release stated.

According to HealthCarefirst, "The Hospice Honors is a landmark compilation of hospices providing the best patient and caregiver experience. This prestigious annual review recognizes hospices that continuously provide the highest level of quality as measured from the caregiver’s point of view.

"Hospice Honors acknowledges high-performing agencies by analyzing performance of Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers (CAHPS) quality measures. The awards are an exclusive recognition for hospices that have selected HealthCarefirst as their hospice survey partner."

Gwen Whitley, LCFL president and CEO, said in the release, “While this is not the first time our agency has been recognized as a Hospice Honors recipient, it’s nice to have the affirmation that what we do to provide a superior hospice care experience continues to work. Knowing that our family caregivers are satisfied with the level of care and support they receive at a time when they need it most is the best reward of all.”

Award criteria were based on Hospice CAHPS survey results from October 2019 through September 2020. To be considered for an award, the hospice must first have scored above the HealthCarefirst National Performance Score on the Hospice CAHPS Willingness to Recommend question.

From there, 23 other questions were evaluated with one point awarded for each question on which the hospice scored above the HealthCarefirst National Performance Score.