ROZHOVOR

Ondrášek Mobile Hospice

United in Giving Care for the Ill

JUDr. Sylva Vartová

Ms Sylva Vartová, a solicitor in the Solicitor Office Vargová, Vartová & Langer, founded the

non-profit organization Mobile Hospice Ondrášek in 2004, being motivated by her personal

experience. She managed to balance having a family with the challenging job of a solicitor and

still have enough energy to win partners for this meaningful project. Her determination helped the

hospice get in the pilot project of care covered by the VZP standard health insurance plan. Her

activities have been supported by numerous VIPs and significant institutions; in 2018 she won the

category “Non-Profit Organization” in the Lady Business of the Moravian-Silesian Region contest.

How come a studied solicitor runs the office and, in

addition, founds and develops a mobile hospice?

My story has been told and explained many times.

It started due to a fatal event in my family when

I discovered that hospice care was only in its very early

stages. Imagine you are at home with a sick family

member whose hospital treatment is over. You do not

want to them to stay at hospital any more but you have

a limited choice. Nowadays, you often hear of palliative

treatment, terminal stage of disease, hospice care, etc.

The principle is to offer help and care to the incurably ill

in the last stages of life so that they do not suffer from

pain, and can stay at home with family and friends.

50 ǀ POSITIV 4/2018

As I had been through the situation, with a few friends

I decided to establish the charitable trust Ondrášek

Mobile Hospice. My idea was that the standard care

would be covered by health insurance companies, and

the hospice care would be covered by the money we

collect from sponsors and donors. The reality, however,

was different: insurance companies were not willing

to sign contracts because hospice care was not given

a legislative code in the Medicare Rate Book, and there

were many day care organizations, so we had to cover

our service from 2005 until recently with our own

means. Only since January 1, 2018 has home hospice

care been covered by health insurance companies, so