Agape Hospice NW Team in Portland, OR
Larisa Louka
CEO
My name is Larisa Louka and thank you for coming to our website! In 2004, I discovered that my calling was to help and work with the elderly. I started my career in long-term care at the age of 17 and eventually became the owner and operator of senior care facilities in Oregon, which ultimately led me to focus on palliative and end-of-life care.
In 2014, I was blessed to be the founder and CEO of Agape Hospice & Palliative Care in Los Angeles, California. From the beginning I vowed to make this company special, and create an organization that truly helps patients and families during their most challenging transitions in life. Luckily with our wide range of experience my Agape team, we have become experts, and advocates for our patients and families.
Compassion, Professionalism, and Integrity, are our core beliefs, and we look forward to showing you. Thanks for considering us!
Dr. Persida Stana
Chief Compliance Officer
Dr. Stana is a Romanian native and graduate from Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy. After finishing her residency program in Pathology, she had the opportunity to move to the US to work as a researcher for Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New York.
Because of Dr. Stana’s passion for medicine and goal to help the elderly and vulnerable populations, in 2012 she started her first Long Term Care facility specializing in Memory Care and End of Life Care.
In Dr. Stana’s spare time she loves to spend time with her children, baking, hiking, laughing and singing.
My goal at Agape Hospice NW is to bring high-quality care services to our patients and families while making sure they are loved and honored during their final days in this amazing journey we call life!
Megan Andersen
RN, BSN, QMHP
Leads our team at Agape Hospice in the role of Director of Nursing. She brings over 20 years of experience in the field of healthcare, with more than 17 years as a Registered Nurse, graduating from Walla Walla University School of Nursing and beginning her MSN at Washington State University. She brings a diverse background in areas of clinical nursing practice in Pediatrics, Psychiatric Nursing, Addiction Medicine, Medical-Surgical Specialties, Gerontology, and healthcare Administration for Community Based Nursing in Long Term Care facilities including Residential Care, Assisted Living, and Memory Care. Megan’s passion is to provide holistic patient care that focuses on the whole person and their families to foster a positive impact and cultivate hope amidst challenging or complex circumstances.
Kelsey Doerksen
Office Manager
Bio coming soon . . .
Carmen McCallum, MD
Medical Director
I am a Romanian native and I graduated Medical School at Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iasi, Romania.
I continued my training in Philadelphia by completing an Internal Medicine Residency at University of Pennsylvania Health System (Penn Medicine) in 1998 and moved to West Coast to practice at Kaiser Permanente.
During the 25 years working at Kaiser, I gained experience across all aspects of medicine: hospital, outpatient, preventive and geriatric medicine. Working in all areas of medicine provided me not only with the experience but with the day-to-day satisfaction of helping people. It wasn't until I practiced geriatric medicine that I felt like a well-rounded physician, who can provide health care at all ages.
While practicing geriatrics, I was able to work with the most frail and vulnerable part of our population and to be my patient's best advocate. This helped me develop much interest in palliative care and end of life overall care.
At Agape Hospice NW, my mission is to treat every patient as my own treasured loved one, providing care that affords a quality of life that outweighs the quantity of days, and supports caregivers as their hearts find healing.
I am committed to ensuring that each of our patients are provided with the highest level of care, and that it meets each patient's spiritual and emotional needs.
Hiwot Woldemedhin, RN, BSN
Regional Director of Nursing
Bio coming soon . . .
Agape Hospice NW is Joint Commission Accredited
Accreditation by The Joint Commission is considered the gold standard in health care and is nationally recognized by CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) for hospice Medicare certification. The Joint Commission is a United States-based nonprofit organization that accredits more than 22,000 US health care organizations and programs.
Agape Hospice NW met The Joint Commission’s enhanced requirements that address critical patient safety and overall quality issues including staff competency, medication management, infection control, and patient education.
Social Workers provide a psychological and emotional assessment of the patient / family regarding death, dying, and bereavement, and assist patients and loved ones with grief counseling and end-of-life planning. Hospice social workers advocate for each patient’s end-of-life wishes and help individuals address the emotional aspects of their illnesses. They also assist families in identifying local services and resources for additional support.
Our Spiritual Counselors are drawn from many faith traditions and are specially trained for ecumenical hospice chaplaincy. The responsibilities of a hospice spiritual care coordinator revolve around caring for the spiritual needs of each hospice patient and their families. Their duties include arranging counseling for patients and grieving families, offering spiritual support to caregivers, and helping with funeral planning.
Our volunteers are important members of the Agape team. Whether it’s providing companionship to a person in the final months and weeks of life, or offering support to family members and caregivers. Our volunteers gain great personal satisfaction from knowing they have made an impact in another person’s life and in the community. Our volunteers have been carefully screened and trained in hospice.
Our counselors provide counseling for patients and loved ones. Agape Hospice & Palliative Care bereavement services are available for any community member experiencing grief from the death of a loved one.
Agape’s Hospice Aides provide assistance with bathing and other personal care within the patient’s home. The Hospice Aide is part of our interdisciplinary team that plans and provides personal care to our patients, under the supervision of our Registered Nurses.
Medical Director (Physician)
Is responsible for the medical components of the hospice patient care program. This specially trained physician is responsible for ensuring that every patient’s care wishes are honored, that the hospice team is supported, and that the care goals set for each patient are being achieved with the highest level of care. Each patients care plan is unique but normally includes:
- Detailed interventions to manage pain.
- Measurable patient outcomes and goals from executing the plan of care.
- The specific drugs and treatments necessary to carry out the plan and provide quality care to meet the needs of the patient.
Registered Nurses / Case Managers
Hospice nurses directly care for patients and support their loved ones. Our nurses are experienced in dealing with this emotional time in a person’s life can help with:
- Explaining the patient’s medical situation to loved ones.
- Providing education to the patient and loved ones to assist them in decision making.
- Providing emotional support
- Accessing spiritual support for patients and loved ones.
- Being present at the time the patient passes.
Hospice nurses are responsible for assessing the need and readiness for hospice and consult with the medical director before accepting you into the program. Once admission to the program occurs, the nurse will review the patient’s medical documentation, and explain the process and philosophy of hospice. Patient and family will then work together to decide on the level of hospice care the patient will receive and devise a plan. After a complete assessment of the patient’s needs, the nurse will also educate loved ones and care staff on how to perform tasks such as changing catheters, and administering medication, and injections. Contact us to schedule an appointment for hospice care needs.