Meet Julia Hospice & Palliative Care
Our Story
The idea for a new healthcare provider in Erie County, Pennsylvania that would bring improved care services for those in the community living with serious illness started because there is no free-standing hospice facility or outpatient palliative medicine provider.
Care for these residents has not appreciably changed for almost 40 years, so the need for updated and "state of the art" services is imperative. For example, there is no residential/inpatient hospice facility ("Hospice House") in Erie, but similar facilities exist in Meadville, Warren, Jamestown, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Because of the transition to more value-based healthcare in the US, hospice providers have a unique opportunity to provide better care services to people earlier then traditional end-of-life care. With the emergence of palliative medicine as specialized care for those living with a serious illness, combining hospice and palliative care services together by a specially trained team of care professionals is a growing trend in the US. In fact, over half of the community-based palliative care programs (home palliative care, palliative care clinics, office-practices) in the US are owned by Medicare-certified hospice providers*.
JHPC became a registered 501c3 non-profit corporation in Pennsylvania in April 2020. While waiting for this status, a detailed 3-year strategic business plan was drafted, a Board of Directors was formed, education material was crafted, and a capital campaign was developed. Land was purchased as the site for Julia House, and preliminary plans were developed for the construction of Julia House.
Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020, we had to slow our fundraising and education efforts in compliance with disease mitigation protocols. Currently, increased construction costs related to the pandemic have further delayed our plans. Despite these challenges, we are doing our best to execute our business strategy, and meet our projected timeline.
We are hoping to break ground on Julia House sometime in 2022. Under the best-case scenario, we are planning on opening Julia Hospice and Palliative Care with all its services available at Julia House by the end of 2023.
* Centers to Advance Palliative Care, 2019
Our Leadership Team
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Julia Strzalka
Executive Director
Julia Strzalka earned her Bachelor of Music from The Catholic University of America. She earned her Master Degree from Syracuse University and taught grade school music. After raising her children, Julia earned her School Administration Certificate from Edinboro University. She returned to education as the school principal of Seton Catholic School & St. Luke School. Julia has sat on many non-profit boards and has served the community in several volunteer projects.
Christopher Strzalka, MD
Medical Director
Dr. Christopher Strzalka earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from Canisius College. He earned his Doctor of Medicine Degree from S.U.N.Y Upstate. Dr. Strzalka practiced as a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at Hamot Medical Center. He then went on to complete a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. Upon returning, Dr. Strzalka became the Director of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care for Saint Vincent Health Center. During this time, he was also the medical director for Regional Hospice.
Board of Directors
Board of Advisors
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Karen Adams
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Chrissy Anthony
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Dorothy Cooney
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Gregory Gutting, CPA, CPCU
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Rev. Daniel Hoffman
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Mabel Howard
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Anne Senft
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Rev. Dr. Anthony Alleruzzo
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Dr. Michael Cooney
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Elizabeth DiSantis
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V. James Fiorenzo
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Janet Getson
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Kathy Orlando
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Jean Craige Pepper
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Ross Rectenwald
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Mary Schaaf
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Susan Strayer
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Jonathan Strzalka
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Matthew Zonno