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