Febraury 11, 2020 – VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of end-of-life care, named Peter Frenchak, an experienced healthcare administrator and former helicopter paramedic and U.S. Air Force veteran, as general manager of its hospice services throughout Palm Beach County, Florida.
Frenchak comes to VITAS from Broward Health in Fort Lauderdale, where he served as director of operations for physician services since late 2018. The Pennsylvania native also was senior practice manager at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Community Medicine, urgent care practice manager for UPMC Physicians Services, and emergency medical services coordinator for UPMC Presbyterian. He was a flight paramedic for UPMC’s Center for Emergency medicine, and he served five years in the U.S. Air Force.
“At VITAS, there’s such a strong focus on how we take care of patients and families, and on the complete spectrum of services, from end-of-life care to chaplain support to bereavement services,” he says. “We help patients through some of their toughest times in life and families through some of the toughest decisions they have to make. That’s what really made VITAS attractive to me and made me think, ‘This is where I want to be.’ ”
Frenchak earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Point Park University in Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in health services administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Pennsylvania.
He received paramedic certification at Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans.
Operating for over 40 years, VITAS Healthcare delivers care to hospice patients and their families at home throughout Palm Beach County from its offices in Boynton Beach and West Palm Beach, as well as inpatient care at the VITAS Community Life and Inpatient Center at Delray Beach and the VITAS Inpatient Unit at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
About VITAS® Healthcare
Established in 1978, VITAS Healthcare is a pioneer and leader in the American hospice movement. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) operates 48 hospice programs in 14 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. VITAS employs 12,388 professionals who care for terminally ill patients daily, primarily in the patients’ homes, and also in the company’s 28 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the third quarter of 2019, VITAS reported an average daily census of 19,137. Visit www.vitas.com.
