Cheryl Hamilton Fried was brought on as the President and CEO by the Blue Ridge Hospice Board of Directors in January 2021 to lead the transformation of a highly regarded local hospice provider into a leading provider of hospice and serious illness care across the post-acute continuum. Cheryl also was charged with developing opportunities by which Blue Ridge Hospice could collaborate effectively with similar mission-driven providers across the mid-Atlantic region to ensure their long-term sustainability and relevance as locally owned and governed entities as Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers continue to evolve payment models intended to disrupt business as usual.
Given her long record of achievement in transforming the operations of healthcare organizations, creating bold new service lines, and building new business opportunities from the spark of an idea, Cheryl fit right in as a visionary CEO to lead a cherished local institution like Blue Ridge Hospice poised for growth, innovation, and change.
In her first 18 months at Blue Ridge Hospice, Cheryl stabilized and grew the long-tenured staff; witnessed a 40 percent growth in census; rolled out a pilot program to provide serious illness (palliative) care in the community; led a successful effort to win approval from the Commonwealth of Virginia to open the area’s first PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) site; revamped the Development, Business Development, and Marketing departments; and initiated collaborative discussions with a number of not-for-profit hospice providers serving the region.
Before joining Blue Ridge Hospice, Cheryl served as Chief Operating Officer for two of the largest, most highly regarded not-for-profit hospice providers in Florida: Covenant Care, Inc., Pensacola, and Chapters Health System, Tampa.
At Covenant Care, a large, legacy not-for-profit provider of post-acute services operating in 55 counties in Northwest Florida and South and Central Alabama, Cheryl served as a change leader as the organization was undergoing a once-in-a-generation transition with the retirement of a visionary CEO. She was responsible for the daily operations of all programs and services delivered to patients and families, including hospice, home health, private duty home care, palliative care, Alzheimer’s care, children’s services, and a pilot Medicare Care Choices Model. She supervised managed care contracting and had direct oversight of medical services, service lines, clinical standards, education, business development, and sales and community outreach.
In three separate stints at Chapters Health, Cheryl shepherded the legacy West Central Florida provider that began originally as the not-for-profit serving Tampa’s Hillsborough County through substantial growth and change as it affiliated with neighboring hospices and opened new services. She launched one of Florida’s first PACE Programs and built the foundation for a comprehensive post-acute health system at Chapters Health.
She began her hospice career with director-level and executive positions in Admissions and Marketing for both Chapters Health and VITAS Healthcare.
Cheryl also founded and ran Envista Health, LLC, Tampa, FL, which provided both operational support services to home health agencies while also working directly with the frail elderly and their caregivers.
Cheryl holds a Master of Business Administration magna cum laude in Healthcare Services Administration from Webster University, St. Louis, MO. She graduated from Rollins College, Winter Park, FL, with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Psychology and a minor in Business Administration. Cheryl also holds a Hospice Administrator Certificate issued by the California Association for Health Services at Home (CAHSAH).
Throughout her professional career, she has been an active member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, Florida Hospice and Palliative Care Association and National PACE Association.
Cheryl resides in Winchester, VA, with her dogs, Sula and Samuel.
