How He Built a Hospice From 50 to 8,000 Patients: Heath Bartness of St. Croix Hospice

In 2009, Heath Bartness was a 20-something nursing home administrator with an idea: hospice could be done better. His owners agreed to fund it, with one condition. He had two years to succeed, and if it didn't work out, he'd come back and run a nursing home for them. The goal was 50 patients. Today, St. Croix Hospice serves nearly 8,000 patients across 10 states and more than 100 locations, making it one of the largest hospice organizations in the country. In this episode, Heath sits down with Tom Maxwell to talk about how St. Croix grew without losing what made it work. He tells the story of the $20 minimum wage that gave one nursing assistant an $8 raise and "changed our life." He also explains why he once called music therapy "hocus pocus," what a social worker taught him about the value of a visit, why so many families still call hospice too late, and what he'd tell CMS if he had them in a room with no lobbyists. Topics covered: • Founding St. Croix Hospice with a two-year deadline • Culture, and why "we have to be the best" is the only absolute • Music therapy and the value of every visit • Raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour • Why families elect hospice late, and the role of primary care • AI in hospice, and what St. Croix looks like in 2035 Connect with Heath: • St. Croix: https://stcroixhospice.com • Heath's LinkedIn:   / heath-bartness   Chapters: • 0:00 Welcome Heath Bartness, founder & CEO of St. Croix Hospice • 2:01 Why "St. Croix"? The river and the holy crossing • 2:49 From nursing home administrator to hospice founder • 6:06 From a goal of 50 patients to 8,000 in 10 states • 8:20 The patients and stories he'll never forget • 14:44 Sponsor Break • 16:12 Scaling St. Croix and hospice as a calling • 20:16 Letting go: name badges and paper clips • 24:07 The one thing St. Croix will never change • 27:24 The decision he got wrong: music therapy • 31:07 Why nursing is the best career: "When I go see Ethel, she smiles" • 35:06 Sponsor Break • 37:15 "You have changed our life": the $20 minimum wage • 42:07 Why families call hospice too late • 50:45 Mentors, boards and private equity in hospice • 1:04:17 What Heath would tell CMS: moments of joy over comfortably numb • 1:09:47 AI in hospice and St. Croix in 2035 • 1:13:36 Legacy, and how to reach St. Croix Hospice Last Visit First on other platforms: • Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3iSKGRv... • YouTube:    / @lastvisitfirstpodcast   • Website: https://lastvisitfirst.com • LinkedIn:   / last-visit-first   Sponsors: • Premier Sponsor: Homecare Homebase: https://lastvisitfirst.com/go/HCHB • Premier Sponsor: Trella Health: https://www.trellahealth.com/ • Maxwell TEC: https://maxwelltec.com/products/nanac... • IntellaTriage: https://intellatriage.com/