Hospice: Whither A Light in the Darkening Night

Hospice illuminates human suffering,
Its touch alleviates pain, isolation, the fear of what's next.

Hospice ears welcome the call of sorrow, joy, separation, love,
Its faith encourages presence, reconciliation, unity.

Hospice lived offers dignity:

We are with you.
You are loved beyond measure.
When it's time to go home, go.
We'll care for those still here.

Yet, darkness descends on this light.
Chains constrain loving touch.
Business models intrude, disturbing a precarious balance

Lawyers, financiers, and salespeople thrust jagged frameworks.
Business paragons, never satisfied with being, instill loss and separation
Goading staff to achieve dehumanizing measures or expect termination.

Might leadership darkness shutter the hospice light?
This ultimate power they do not have.

The light of hospice is inside people.
It's brand-less, report-less, measure-less.
It seeks no glory, no attention.
Self-inflation, absorption, aggrandizement is absent

Hospice requires courage.
Courage to set aside absurd priorities and inane orders.

We are with you.

Courage to protest the obscene material gain of corporate chiefs.
Courage to ignore the countless ways the organization shouts "You are replaceable."

You are loved beyond measure.

Courage to support coworkers who cling to the hospice spirit like the breath of life it is.

When it's time to go home, go.

Courage to speak truth and honesty about the encroaching darkness, which ultimately desires to offer hospice in name only.

We'll care for those still here

Until we're gone.

---By StrangeTony January 2013

Tony Strange's Investor Slap

StrangeTony,

I realize your aim is to expose how corporate America drove the heart from your hospice, turning it into a generic replica.  That said, Gentiva's Tony Strange speaks the language of Wall Street.  I thought you might get a kick out of last year's stockholder vote on Executive Compensation. This metric showed:

For - 8.6 million
Against - 14.9 million

The proposal (shown below) lost by 6.3 million votes.  This vote is only advisory for Gentiva's Board of Directors.

Executive Compensation Vote

We believe that our executive compensation program has been effective in aligning the interests of shareholders and executives, incentivizing the accomplishment of corporate goals, and attracting and retaining talented executives. In deciding how to vote on this Say-on-Pay proposal, please consider that we take into account the following factors regarding developing and overseeing our compensation program, which are described in detail in this proxy statement under the heading “Executive Compensation—Compensation Discussion and Analysis”:

•

Enhancing shareholder value by focusing our executives’ efforts on the specific performance metrics that help drive shareholder value;

Can you say bitch slap?

•

Attracting, motivating and retaining executive talent willing to commit to long-term shareholder value creation;

•

Aligning executive decision making with our business strategy and goal setting;

•

Reflecting industry standards, offering competitive total compensation opportunities and balancing the need for talent with reasonable compensation expense; and

•

Providing executives with information so that they understand their total compensation and how rewards are generally a function of both organizational and individual performance.

Our Board of Directors, therefore, urges you to approve the compensation of our named executive officers by voting in favor of the following resolution:

“RESOLVED, that the shareholders approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of our named executive officers, as disclosed in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the compensation tables and the accompanying narrative as presented in this proxy statement.”

Vote Required

The affirmative vote of the holders of the majority of the shares represented at the meeting and who are entitled to vote on, and who vote for, against, or expressly abstain, is required to approve the resolution. As an advisory vote, this Say-on-Pay proposal is not binding. However, our Board of Directors and our Compensation, Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee value the opinions of our shareholders and will consider the outcome of the vote when making future compensation decisions regarding Gentiva’s named executive officers. The Board of Directors has made a determination to provide for annual say-on-pay advisory votes, and accordingly, unless modified, the next say-on-pay advisory vote will be held at our 2013 annual meeting of shareholders.

Despite performing poorly in 2011 Tony Strange's total compensation amounted to $4 million.:

$

4,012,982

It's nearing time for 2012 earnings, after which comes the 2013 proxy vote.  Will shareholders show their displeasure two years in a row?

Thank you for your courage and heart,

Anonymous

Welcome

Welcome to Generic Hospice.  I'm StrangeTony, not to be confused with the CEO of Gentiva, a gentleman named Tony Strange.  I work in a hospice that once provided outstanding, personal care to patients.  Then our hospice merged into another company and then another.

Change meant doing more with less, a common refrain in today's corporate world. Outstanding nurses left after years with no raises.  Apparently marketing people breed and die like mice.  They came in droves, scurried around, then moved on to other jobs or perished.  It's not clear which.

Generic Hospice removed the heart from our hospice, replacing it with randomly changing rules, admission goals and EBDITA targets.  Fortunately, we have a bereavement person to help me grieve the loss of the unique and special service we once provided.  It died 1-9-12. This blog rises from those ashes.