Category: Press Releases

Contact:  Laureen Crotteau, Event and Media Relations Specialist
Phone: 815-460-3257
E-Mail: [email protected]

Joliet Area Community Hospice (JACH) is proud to announce that one of their volunteers, Jim (J.P) Morgan, was the chosen as one of four recipients nationwide to receive the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) 2018 Volunteers Are the Foundation of Hospice Award in the category of Organizational Support.  Morgan was presented with the award at the NHPCO conference in New Orleans on November 6, 2018.

Morgan began his volunteering with Joliet Area Community Hospice ten years ago, shortly after retiring from ExxonMobil.  His volunteering began with weekly four-hour shifts in JACH’s 16-bed hospice home inpatient unit, where he would visit patients and respond to their needs and those of family members and staff. After talking about his photography skills, JACH asked Morgan to take photos of the grounds and at events. He soon took on the role of “official” agency photographer at the 13+ events held each year, taking over 7400 photos annually in the process. Ready to help where needed, Morgan became aware of a need in the maintenance department, and now gives at least five hours each week helping maintain JACH’s 39,000 square foot building and 15-acre property.

Morgan has volunteered at least 200 hours every year since he began with JACH, totaling an awe-inspiring 2,433 hours. His volunteering has also impacted JACH financially, as the agency has received $2,000 from ExxonMobil for each year Morgan has volunteered, totaling $20,000 donated to date in his name. Joliet Area Community Hospice is a richer agency in so many ways thanks to Morgan’s considerable contributions! Besides being a cherished volunteer and friend to JACH staff who know him, Morgan. is a devoted son to his 96-year-old father, brother, husband to Maggie, father to three daughters, and proud grandfather to one granddaughter and one grandson. Morgan resides in Joliet, Illinois.

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Joliet Area Community Hospice provides compassionate, professional hospice and palliative care to over 30,000 terminally ill patients and their families since 1982. In the past two years alone, Joliet Area Community Hospice provided over $1.3 million in charity care, community bereavement programs, unreimbursed pediatric hospice and palliative care, and community outreach.  We are a not-for-profit corporation, state licensed, Medicare/Medicaid certified and supported by United Way of Will and Grundy Counties. We serve patients in greater Will, Grundy, LaSalle, Livingston, and Kendall counties along with portions of Cook, DuPage and Kankakee counties.

The mission of Joliet Area Community Hospice is Real People, Real Care, Your Family.

Contact:  Laureen Crotteau, Event and Media Relations Specialist
Phone: 815-460-3257
E-Mail: [email protected]

Dr. Muhamad Krad has been named as the new Medical Director at Joliet Area Community Hospice (JACH) effective July 1^st. Dr. Krad will succeed Dr. J.D. Wright who is retiring at the end of June. Dr. Krad, specializing in Internal Medicine currently at Amita Health serving Adventist Hospitals in LaGrange and Hinsdale, has also worked part time at JACH for the past year. He graduated with honors from Loyola University Chicago, followed by a Masters at Georgetown University and subsequently Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in 2008. Dr. Krad completed residency at the University of Chicago in 2011 and practiced both hospital and hospice medicine at Palos Health through 2016.

“Having more than 7 years of diverse experience in internal medicine, the addition of Dr. Krad to our staff of hospice physicians has been seamless. He is truly a caring and very capable physician,” said Mary K. Sheehan, CEO. “Working hand in hand with our dedicated, knowledgeable staff and the families of our patients, Dr. Krad provides expert pain management and symptom control. He recognizes that each person’s experience and story is unique and their goals at end of life are different. We are thrilled that he has accepted the role of Medical Director.”

While never planning to become our hospice director, Dr. Krad knew it was the right path for him after just a few months at Joliet Area Community Hospice. “I am very happy to have joined this wonderful, forward-thinking group. We have an excellent team that works together and truly prioritizes our patients and families. Having grown up and lived most my life in Chicago’s southwest suburbs I feel at home. I look forward to continue serving and caring for our community and our families.”

Joliet Area Community Hospice provides compassionate, professional hospice and palliative care to over 30,000 terminally ill patients and their families since 1982. JACH built the first hospice home in-patient unit in the State of Illinois. Currently, JACH serves over 300 patients each day, wherever “home is” for our patients.

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In the past two years alone, Joliet Area Community Hospice provided over $1.3 million in charity care, community bereavement programs, unreimbursed pediatric hospice and palliative care, and community outreach.  We are a not-for-profit corporation, state licensed, Medicare/Medicaid certified and supported by United Way of Will and Grundy Counties. We serve patients in greater Will, Grundy, LaSalle, Livingston and Kendall counties along with portions of Cook, DuPage, and Kankakee.

Contact:  Laureen Crotteau, Event and Media Relations Specialist
Phone: 815-460-3257
E-Mail: [email protected]

The upcoming holidays can be daunting when a loved one is no longer with us. Joliet Area Community Hospice hosts its 13th annual Lights of Love Memorial Tribute and Tree Lighting Ceremony for families to honor loved ones who are no longer with us.  This event brought to you by Kurtz Ambulance, Busey Bank and The Horton Group will take place Wednesday, November 12, 2018 at the Rialto Square Theater, 102 N. Chicago St., Joliet. Music, poetry, reflections and a beautiful video tribute fill the Rialto Square Theatre with the warmth of memories on the evening before Thanksgiving. Participants receive a keepsake ornament in memory of their loved one along with a memorial ornament. When they hear the name of their loved one, families walk together on the Rialto’s stage to hang memorial ornaments on a Christmas tree. A $20 donation includes a Keepsake ornament and five admission tickets to Lights of Love Memorial Tribute and Tree Lighting Ceremony a part of Home for the Holidays at the Rialto. To register, visit joliethospice.org under the events tab or call
815-740-4104. Photos for the memorial tribute are due by November 7, 2018. JACH Lights of Love was nominated as one of the Best Events in The Herald-News Readers’ Choice awards for 2018. Joliet Area Community Hospice is your community’s
not-for-profit hospice choice and a United Way Agency. REAL PEOPLE  REAL CARE YOUR FAMILY

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Joliet Area Community Hospice provides compassionate, professional hospice and palliative care to over 25,000 terminally ill patients and their families since 1982. In the past two years alone, Joliet Area Community Hospice provided over $1.2 million in charity care, community bereavement programs, unreimbursed pediatric hospice and palliative care, and community outreach.  We are a not-for-profit corporation, state licensed, Medicare/Medicaid certified and supported by United Way of Will and Grundy Counties. We serve patients in greater Will, Grundy, LaSalle, Livingston, and Kendall counties along with portions of Cook, DuPage and Kankakee counties.

The mission of Joliet Area Community Hospice is to provide comprehensive, holistic, community based support service and care for terminally ill persons, their caregivers and loved ones without regard to economic status; to enable the dying person to live peacefully, in comfort, and with dignity to the last moment of life. Joliet Area Community Hospice complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex. Free language assistance services are available to our JACH patients/families. Call 1-800-360-1817 or 815-740-4104   TTY/TTD 815-460-3224.