Meet Kass Mounce – BS, MSM, CDP, CDSGF, CMDCP, the administrator at ProMedica Hospice (promedicahospice.org/lincoln).
Tell us a little about your business. – ProMedica Hospice services integrate holistic principles with palliative disease management, expert pain and symptom control, family education, and psycho-spiritual support for end-of-life care. We also provide the education, counseling, and other resources that can help with emotional needs. Care is culturally
sensitive, respecting the traditions and heritage that are important to patients and their family members.
How did you get started in the business? – I have had the honor of working in senior care for almost 25 years. I became a certified nursing assistant when I was 16 years old and have experience in long term care facilities, memory care, and assisted living. I worked my way up from CNA to volunteer coordinator, provider relations manager to administration. My goal has always been focused on patient advocacy and I am fortunate to have been able to experience senior care and hospice care on many different levels. It has given me a greater understanding of the philosophy of care as well as insight into what is truly considered valuable in the senior care industry. Hospice care has been a natural calling for me since the beginning of my career.
What has been your most important achievement professionally? – I would have to say finishing graduate school. I took the long way around and there were many times I struggled to keep going, but completing the program and walking across that stage is one of my proudest moments.
Tell us a little about your family. – I have two sons, Bennett (11) and Jacob (8), that keep me incredibly busy. They are really into sports so we spend a lot of time at practices/games, etc. When we aren’t at sports, we love camping, boating, and fishing. My partner and I have three dogs, including a mastiff named George.
What do you see as one of the biggest turning points in your life? – Becoming a mother. You can read all of the books and listen to all of the advice, but once it actually happens to you it is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It changes every aspect of your life in many ways you didn’t even see coming. There is the obvious initial lack of sleep and whatnot, but I am talking about absolute unconditional love…and all of the high points and struggles that come with it.
What is your favorite quote or the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? – “To live with compassion means to enter others’ dark moments. It is to walk into places of pain, not to flinch, or look away when another agonizes. It means to stay where people suffer. Compassion understood in this way asks more from us than a mere stirring of pity or sympathetic word.” Henri Nouwen, Turn My Mourning into Dancing.
Which talent would you most like to have? – I think it would be amazing to be able to draw or paint. I appreciate the works and talents of those who can. I feel like I have a very creative mind but zero ability to translate that onto a canvas.
If you could choose any other profession to be successful in, what would it be? – If I wasn’t in this field, I would almost certainly be working with animals. Horses, dogs, cows, birds…I am fascinated by them all.
What is your favorite book or the last good book you read? – Being Mortal by Atul Gawande.
What is your favorite local restaurant? – The original Misty’s in Havelock. The atmosphere, the décor, the food…it’s like stepping back in time.
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – (844) 329-0950; Kassandra.mounce@promedica.org; promedicahospice.org/lincoln.