My Hospice Experience - with Office Manager, Barb Lyle

Barb Lyle, Office Manager (left), with Tina Spano, RN Case Manager

Barb Lyle has been the Office Manager for Absolute Hospice for four years. Deeply embedded in our work culture, systems, and practices, her days start at 7:15 a.m. and end around 5:30 p.m. Her daily responsibilities consist of scheduling all disciplines to see patients, conducting insurance authorizations, and coordinating the day-to-day functions of care. When families, nursing facilities, staff or patients call the office, she’s the one who answers.

If you were to ask about hospice, she’d tell you about our purpose, the heart behind the hospice movement, and all about our amazing team. She’d be right to share that information with you.

But last year when a family friend’s father was dying and needed hospice services, Barb was there in the moments that mattered the most. Walking through the experience with a friend completely changed her perspective on an industry that she knows so well, and has given her time to. Today, if you’d ask her about hospice, she’d tell you that it was a saving grace, it was kind and consistent.

She saw one of the nurses that she sees weekly at team meetings and around the office in live-action. Tina Spano, RN was the case manager assigned to this family.

“It had only been a couple of days since he had been in our care, and my friend called me – time with her father was winding down. When I arrived, he had just passed away. Tina, our case manager, cared for us all exceptionally well. I knew that when she saw my friends grieving that she’d be there for them – I had no idea that she’d be tending to me so well,” said Barb. "I have known for years about the good work that hospice can do, I’ve even known about the good work that our team has done as I’m on the receiving end of many complimentary comments. But now I have experienced it and was blown away by the care and attention. To say that experience made me proud was an understatement.”