BridgingLife Welcomes Chaya Lasson, R.N., as New Director of Jewish Hospice and Palliative Care
BridgingLife is excited to welcome registered nurse Chaya Lasson as the new director of Jewish Hospice and Palliative Care. In this position, Lasson will serve as a liaison between the medical and Jewish faith-based communities and provide continuing education to healthcare providers and clinical staff about how to align the care of patients with their Jewish values.Lasson joins BridgingLife with more than 30 years of nursing experience and Jewish communal work. She was a neonatal intensive care unit nurse for two decades before becoming a health educator in the Jewish community and served as Jewish hospice program manager at a local hospice facility.
During her career, Lasson has created partnerships to engage and empower communities, connect people to appropriate resources and help people make care decisions that are based on accurate information and aligned with their faith.
"As a well-connected member of the Jewish community and entrenched in the Baltimore community, I'm excited to continue serving families in this role," says Lasson. "My passion is definitely connecting people and being a liaison for the community with physicians and providers and educating staff on values that are important to our diverse Jewish population."
Some of the initiatives Lasson plans to implement include planning community outreach events to educate the public about the services BridgingLife provides for those facing serious illness and those at the end of life, dispelling common hospice myths and sharing how hospice and palliative care can be utilized while still abiding by the tenets of Judaism.
"I'm pleased to have Chaya join our BridgingLife team. With her enthusiasm, extensive experience and passion for helping people, I am confident she will be an asset to our team and in fulfilling our mission to provide high-quality palliative and end-of-life care to the communities we serve," said Regina Bodnar, assistant vice president of hospice and palliative services at LifeBridge Health.
The director of Jewish Hospice and Palliative Care is a newly created position that is one of many examples of LifeBridge Health's long-standing tradition of meeting the religious and cultural needs of Jewish patients, since the founding of Sinai Hospital in 1866. Sinai Hospital provides a full-time on-site Rabbinic chaplain, Kosher meals for patients, and a kosher restaurant "” Café Shalom "” for staff and visitors.
Additionally, LifeBridge Health has a strong partnership with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore (JCC) that offers innovative health and wellness opportunities for JCC members and guests in the Owings Mills and Park Heights communities.
"LifeBridge Health's purpose statement is "˜Caring for Our Communities Together' and caring for the Jewish community with initiatives such as this new director position, while also remaining sensitive to every patient's value and belief, is a very important part of our history and who we are," says Neil Meltzer, president and CEO of LifeBridge Health.
A LifeBridge Health partner, BridgingLife is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the delivery of high-quality care for seriously ill patients and those that love them through the end of life. Accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP), BridgingLife is also Medicare certified and licensed by the State of Maryland.
Photo captions:
Chaya Lasson, R.N., new director of Jewish Hospice and Palliative Care.
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