Helios Care

What Helios Care does

Helios Care (legally Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc.) is an independent nonprofit hospice and palliative care organization founded in 1983 by a group of Fox Hospital nurses in Oneonta, New York, serving residents of Otsego, Delaware, and Schoharie counties across a 3,000+ square mile rural service area. The organization's clinical offering is anchored by two core programs: Medicare/Medicaid-reimbursable hospice care delivered in the patient's home or facility setting by an interdisciplinary team of nurses, social workers, home health aides, chaplains, and volunteers, and the Choices Palliative Care Program — an in-home, person-centered palliative care service for older adults facing serious illness that is provided at no cost to patients and families and is primarily funded by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation. Wrapped around the clinical core is a layered suite of community and family programs, including Caregiver Resources, Grief Support Services, the StoryKeeper life-review program, Kids Camp Forget-Me-Not (founded 2002), the We Honor Veterans program, an Educational Programs / Speaker Request bureau, a volunteer-staffed Thrift Shop, and the Dr. Yoshiro Matsuo Compassionate Care Award.

The operating model is clinical-services-led with philanthropic support: hospice revenue is generated through per-diem Medicare/Medicaid/private-insurance reimbursement, while unfunded services (palliative care, children's grief support, community education, massage, spiritual counsel) are sustained through foundation grants, corporate contributions, a thrift store, community donations, and annual fundraising events such as the Daffodil Jazz Brunch and Rock & Roll Revue. Clinical staff are dispatched across a 3,000+ square mile region using cell phones and laptops for connectivity, with 24/7 phone availability for patients and families; referrals come through the Bassett Healthcare Network, self-referrals, and community outreach. Helios Care is governed by an independent Board of Directors (chaired at one point by Jeff Woeppel) and is led by President & CEO Joan MacDonald (DNP, MSN, RN), who succeeded Dan Ayres effective May 19, 2025. The organization holds a Medicare Care Compare 4-Star quality rating and is a member of the NHPCO We Honor Veterans program, reflecting regulatory compliance and quality-reporting standing that constitute a real barrier to new entrants in the region.

Name

Helios Care

Legal name

Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc. d/b/a Helios Care

Website

https://helioscare.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Helios Care is an independent nonprofit hospice and palliative care organization serving Otsego, Delaware, and Schoharie counties in rural upstate New York, delivering Medicare-reimbursed hospice services plus a grant-funded in-home palliative program and community grief and veteran programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospice and Palliative Care

NAICS

Home Health Care Services (62161)

SIC

Services-Home Health Care Services (8082)

akta.pro primary industry

Non-Hospice Serious-Illness / Community-Based Palliative Care (In-Home) (HSABAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Hospice Care in Assisted Living / Residential Care Facilities (HLADAHAE)

Keywords

• Hospice care services
• Palliative care programs
• Grief support services
• End-of-life care
• Bereavement support

Headquarters

HQ city

Oneonta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Medicare/Medicaid/Insurance Hospice Reimbursement: Reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurances for hospice services, which can include the cost of some medications, medical supplies and equipment. Helios Care provides hospice care regardless of ability to pay.
2. Foundation Grants: Restricted and unrestricted grants from foundations such as the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation ($195,000 for Choices program), Corning Incorporated's Community Impact & Investment ($2,000), and the Community Foundation of Otsego County.
3. Community Donations: Tax-deductible charitable gifts from community members providing unrestricted funds for services not covered by insurance such as massage therapy, spiritual counsel, and extended social worker services.
4. Fundraising Events: Annual fundraising events including the Daffodil Jazz Brunch (tickets $70 individual / $130 couple), Rock & Roll Revue concert, Dine Out for a Cause restaurant partnership program, and Helios Care Gala.
5. Thrift Shop Revenue: Retail thrift store in Oneonta staffed by volunteers, providing unrestricted funds for the organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Core offering

Helios Care provides specialty hospice and palliative care to patients facing serious illness or end of life, primarily delivered in the patient's home across Otsego, Delaware, and Schoharie counties in New York. Services include clinical hospice care by an interdisciplinary team, the Choices in-home palliative care program, caregiver and grief support, veteran recognition, children's grief programs, and life-review (StoryKeeper) services, reimbursed by Medicare/Medicaid/private insurance and supplemented by grants and donations.

Product overview

Helios Care (formerly Catskill Area Hospice & Palliative Care) is a single, integrated nonprofit service organization — not a multi-product software platform — that delivers hospice and palliative care to residents of Otsego, Delaware, and Schoharie counties in New York. Its offering is anchored by two core clinical services: Hospice Care (specialty end-of-life care) and the Choices Palliative Care Program (in-home palliative care for older adults with serious illness), which are wrapped by a layered set of family and community programs including Caregiver Resources & Support, Grief Support Services, the StoryKeeper Program (life-story recording), the Kids Camp Forget-Me-Not (grief camp for children and teens), the Veterans Program (We Honor Veterans pinning and recognition), Educational Programs & Speaker Requests, the Dr. Yoshiro Matsuo Compassionate Care Award, and a volunteer-staffed Thrift Shop & Boutique that funds the mission.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Choices Program: Helios Care's in-home palliative care program that brings person-centered care to older adults facing serious illness in Delaware, Otsego, and Schoharie counties; supported by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.
• Camp Forget-Me-Not
• Helios Care StoryKeeper Program

Products and services

• Hospice Care Specialty end-of-life care provided in the patient's home (or other residence) for individuals believed to be in the last six months of life, with a focus on pain and symptom management, comfort, and quality of life. Care is delivered by an interdisciplinary team of nurses, social workers, home health aides, chaplains, and volunteers and is covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurances.
• Choices Palliative Care Program In-home palliative care program serving older adults facing serious illness in Delaware, Otsego, and Schoharie counties, focused on symptom relief, pain management, medication review, and connection to community resources. The program is funded primarily by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and is provided at no cost to patients and families.
• Caregiver Resources & Support Training, support groups, and resources for family caregivers of patients facing serious illness, including guidance on medications, the dying process, and how to provide comfort at home. Includes bereavement support for up to 13 months.
• Grief Support Services Free grief support for adults and children in the community, including one-on-one counseling, monthly grief support groups at multiple locations and virtually, and Healing Grief Retreats. Open to anyone in the community, not just those who had a hospice affiliation.
• Kids Camp Forget-Me-Not Free day camp founded in 2002 for school-age children and teens who have experienced the loss of a loved one. Held annually in Otsego, Delaware, and Schoharie counties, with 2025 expanding to three camp dates (Walton, Oneonta, Cooperstown, plus a fall camp at Beaver Valley Campground). Includes healing circles, recreational activities, and a parent support component.
• StoryKeeper Program Volunteer-led program in which trained volunteers visit patients to listen, record, and preserve their life stories as a meaningful gift for family and friends, supporting life review, meaning-making, and life closure.
• Veterans Program (We Honor Veterans) Veteran-to-veteran recognition and pinning ceremonies as part of the We Honor Veterans program, recognizing and honoring veterans receiving hospice and palliative care services.
• Educational Programs & Speaker Request Community education and speaker bureau offering free presentations to schools, community groups, and organizations on topics such as advance care planning, Five Wishes, caregiver support, and supporting grieving children. Includes outreach to local school districts on children's grief support.
• Thrift Shop & Boutique Retail thrift store in Oneonta staffed largely by volunteers that generates unrestricted funds to support the hospice and palliative care mission.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY) Hospice and Palliative Care: Large New York-based nonprofit hospice and home health provider offering hospice, palliative care, and grief support across multiple counties. Operates a similar clinical and community-support model to Helios Care but at a much larger scale and broader geography.
• Hospice of the Finger Lakes: Nonprofit hospice serving the Finger Lakes region of New York with hospice, palliative care, and bereavement programs. Highly comparable as a community-based rural-adjacent hospice with a similar service mix and reliance on donations, grants, and Medicare reimbursement.
• Hospice of Orange & Sullivan Counties: Community-based nonprofit hospice serving adjacent upstate New York counties. Comparable service lines (hospice, palliative, grief support, veteran recognition) and similar rural NY operating context to Helios Care.
• St. Peter's Hospice (Trinity Health): Nonprofit hospice and palliative care program operated within a New York health system. Comparable as a faith/community-affiliated hospice with hospice, palliative, and bereavement offerings in upstate New York markets.

Broad incumbents

• VITAS Healthcare: Largest hospice provider in the United States, offering hospice and palliative care across many states including New York. Comparable on core hospice/palliative service lines and Medicare reimbursement model, though operating at vastly greater scale and as a for-profit subsidiary of Chemed Corp.
• Amedisys Hospice: Major national hospice and home health provider operating across dozens of states. Highly comparable clinical service model (hospice, palliative, bereavement) and payer mix (predominantly Medicare), although as a publicly traded for-profit it operates very differently from a nonprofit.
• Compassus: National hospice, palliative, and home health provider operating in over 30 states. Comparable service mix and reimbursement model to Helios Care, though larger and more geographically dispersed.
• Gentiva Hospice: Large national hospice and palliative care provider offering clinical hospice services, grief support, and veteran recognition programs (including We Honor Veterans participation). Directly comparable on hospice clinical model and community program structure.

Others

• National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO): National industry association of which Helios Care is a member through the We Honor Veterans program. Adjacent rather than competitive, but comparable as the industry reference point for hospice quality, advocacy, and program standards relevant to Helios Care.
• Mother Cabrini Health Foundation: Private New York nonprofit foundation that is the primary funder of Helios Care's Choices palliative care program. Included as an ecosystem participant whose continued funding is a key driver of Helios Care's palliative care capacity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/helioscarehospice
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/catskill-area-hospice-inc
• Instagraminstagram.com/helioscare

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Helios Care