EvenMORE For You

The Wholeness of Meaning

By Danny Gutknecht
It’s no secret that healthcare faces serious pressure: stress, rapid change, burnout, and high turnover. At Pathways, we’ve seen massive cries for help from providers and leaders in healthcare. Many stating the disconnected nature of what they feel their company is going through.

The Value of Death

When Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung stated, “The goal of life is death,” he wasn’t promoting morbidity or despair. Rather, he pointed toward a deeper psychological and symbolic truth: Death symbolically represents the final surrender and release of the ego’s attachments. By acknowledging death as life’s inevitable endpoint, we engage more fully and consciously in the present, rather than chasing illusions of perfection. Death reminds us that to live meaningfully means to embrace impermanence and continually transform.

Like you, I am committed to helping Crossroads become better because I have experienced the death of loved ones in my life. I’ve always felt like the entire medical (and post medical) establishments, ignore someone they feel is not capable of recovery. I’ve seen a poorly curated hospice experience, where the caregivers look past the importance of the end of someone’s life.

By accompanying individuals at life’s endpoint, Crossroads not only reduces fear and isolation but also helps patients and families integrate and make sense of the entire life journey.

Connection & Crossroads

So, what does this have to do with the healthcare crisis? Crossroads’ unique strength is rooted in a promise of honoring life’s journey, and particularly their relationships. And yet today’s new social landscape demands changes, where vital connections can feel strained. Something neuroscientist and psychologist Ian McGilcrist calls too much left-brain dominance. Ian’s book, The Master and His Emissary, explains how today’s “Meaning Crisis” isn’t just hypothesis. He shows how the left-brain excels at logic, tasks, and clarity, but struggles with ambiguity, empathy, and connection.

The right-brain however, sees relationships, context, and deeper meaning. It gives us a perspective of wholeness. In hospice, where connection and compassion are central, the right brain’s way of thinking—what I called Meaning Language in my book—is essential. The “left-brain” mode—task-driven and analytical is important for efficiency—but loses the relational glue of empathy, relationship, and meaning.

Prior to the sale - we worked with Crossroads on a smaller scale to see how Meaning impacts leadership and the bottom line. Meaning won’t solve everything, but it can help significantly. Over the next several months, Crossroads will be using tools and having conversations to—infuse new ways to improve listening, leadership, staffing and efficiency.

The Power of Saying No

By Emily Hammer
Do you ever say yes when you mean no? Do you dread letting someone down by declining an invitation? Do you feel the need to justify your no with a long explanation? You’re not alone. People-pleasing is common, but that doesn’t make it normal.

As a recovering people-pleaser, I know how hard it is to say no, especially to loved ones. It’s easy to reject a telemarketer, but when a friend or family member needs something, it suddenly feels impossible.

Why does one small word cause so much anxiety? Many of us, especially women, were raised to be agreeable and put others first. Whether that was the intended lesson or our own interpretation, it often leads to neglecting our own needs.

So, how do you say no when you really mean it? The truth is it won’t always feel comfortable. It takes practice. Start by asking yourself:

1. Do I have the capacity to say yes?
2. Am I saying yes out of obligation?
3. Will saying yes leave me feeling drained or resentful?
4. Do I feel uneasy about saying yes?

You can’t control how others react—some will be disappointed, while others will respect your honesty. But confidence grows when your actions align with your feelings.

Saying no protects your mental and emotional well-being. It prevents burnout, strengthens self-respect, and simplifies life.

Here are some tips:

• You’re saying no to the request, not the person.
• Saying no to one thing means saying yes to something else.
• Steve Jobs said, “Innovation is saying ‘no’ to 1,000 things.”

Remember, no is a complete sentence. Say it confidently. No guilt, no over-explaining—just freedom.

Who would say no to that?

Registration Representative Suzanne Mineard

Registration Representative Position Takes Off!

Registration Representative Suzanne Mineard was the first person to be hired in the new Registration Representative position. But the specialized position is actually making a comeback.

According to Suzanne, the position existed at Crossroads in the past. It was brought back as a key function of the new Central Referral Office for a smaller company with fewer locations. She reports to Della Miller and is based in NEO.

The way she describes her role is as a total support system for the Assessment Nurses in their delivery of patient care, but Suzanne is also a tight administrator in the execution of the necessary paperwork to place a patient on hospice care.

Educating Families about Hospice Care

A doctor might tell a family there are no more treatment options for their loved one and that they should consider hospice. Suzanne addresses a families’ initial concerns while inquiring about their goals for their loved one’s care. 

Often Suzanne’s “is the first face a family sees.” Even though she’s only been on the job since July, she is excellent at educating and supporting families as they gain understanding of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, consent forms and the progression of steps as patient care begins.

After Suzanne paves the way, the Assessment Nurse arrives soon after to begin clinically assessing the patient’s and the family’s needs for the first care plan. 

Suzanne said that her understanding of what’s different and better with the comeback of the Registration Representative position is that nurses no longer need to be burdened with all the paperwork associated with a hospice admission. Now nurses can focus on what they do best with the support of Registration Representatives.

Additional Registration Representatives Being Recruited

Currently, there are three Registration Representatives working in the new Central Referral Office, one based in Memphis and one who began this week in Philadelphia, in addition to Suzanne. Additional positions to support each site are currently being recruited. The goal is for each Assessment Nurse to be supported by a Registration Representative on days, evenings and weekends.

“I’m excited to be a part of” the new direction, Suzanne said. “I couldn’t pick better coworkers. They’re so compassionate!” With 20 years in medical billing under her belt and another 18 years working for a family-owned funeral home, Suzanne brings a lot of compassion to the job and is embracing Crossroads culture.

Born and raised in Akron and married for 32 years to a now retired Akron police officer, life is good with this excellent, dedicated representative of a Registration Representative.