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