Hospice of Frederick County names new executive director

July 07--For decades, Laurel Cucchi has been building the legacy that now greets visitors at every turn in the Hospice of Frederick County office.

Brochures about Kline Hospice House sit at the front desk. Cucchi, the hospice's departing executive director, directed efforts to build that residential home.

A small table with a flower vase also holds a book about Camp Jamie, the county's first camp for grieving children. Cucchi participated in the camp's development.

Plaques on the walls show that the hospice earned local and national awards under Cucchi's leadership. She is quick to point out that the organization's staff has been instrumental to its success.

"I have been blessed to do something in my life that has been so rewarding," Cucchi said at her former office Wednesday afternoon.

Last month, after 34 years at the hospice, Cucchi retired. She is staying on for at least the next three months as a consultant for the organization and her successor, Potomac resident Carlos Graveran.

Cucchi joined Hospice of Frederick County as a volunteer in 1982, two years after the organization got started. She was looking for hands-on experience in the field before pursuing a degree in grief counseling at nearby Hood College.

At the time, the hospice was in dire need of every penny in its budget. It used scrap paper instead of buying new. Cucchi remembers stopping work one day because a roll of stamps had vanished.

"Our whole budget was in that roll of stamps," she said.

But she enjoyed connecting with people and being able to help them in a time of grief and need. She took on more responsibilities and rose in the organization as it grew.

In the hospice's first year, staff served 29 patients. Now, the hospice serves about 130 patients each day.

Its mission, Cucchi said, has always been to provide a meaningful quality of life for people who know they are in their final months or days. These patients want to be pain-free, she said, and they want to be surrounded by people who love them.

"That mission is going to continue under [Graveran's] leadership," she said. "That mission doesn't change."

The hospice offers services for those who are coping with a terminal condition as well as those who are grieving a loss. Doctors and nurses at the hospice help patients manage their symptoms while other staff members assist patients and their loved ones emotionally and spiritually.

The services are paid through Medicare, Medicaid, some private insurance plans, HMOs and personal payments. For those who cannot afford those services, donations from the public cover the cost.

The organization is an affiliate of the Frederick Regional Health System, of which Frederick Memorial Hospital is also a member.

Graveran started his new job at Hospice of Frederick County on Tuesday. Cucchi, a Frederick resident, has been helping him learn the ropes.

"I've got the best instructor you could hope for," he said.

Graveran is an Army veteran and a fluent Spanish speaker, which he hopes will help the hospice connect to the county's communities.

"My passion is really in spreading the gospel about hospice," he said.

Graveran had a personal encounter with hospice care after his father fell ill with an aggressive form of liver cancer.

"He had a poor experience with hospice at the end, and that codified everything for me," he said.

Graveran's personal mission is to ensure others have a better quality of life at their time of death than his father did.

"You only get one shot at a good death," Cucchi said.

Graveran had been working in Virginia at Vitas Innovative Hospice Care for a few years before he came to Hospice of Frederick County.

Cucchi said she is pleased the organization will have Graveran at the helm.

"My heart's at peace," she said.

On his second day on the job, Graveran did not yet have grand plans for the organization, but he said there's plenty of room to expand.

"I see the role of hospice growing nationally," he said.

Graveran is seeing a trend in which more people want a comfortable death rather than a prolonged life. Some opt to take advantage of hospice services to ensure their last wishes are carried out.

"Despite all the technology, we can't cure everything. We will all have our day," he said.

Cucchi also sees growth in Hospice of Frederick County's future. The most difficult thing she hears is that families wish they had heard about the hospice sooner, she said.

"There's still a great many people we still need to reach, but the mission won't change."

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