January West Oahu Hospice Hero

A natural communicator, Ashley DeCosta’s typical workday consists of constant interaction with others: retrieving and sending referrals between families, physician’s offices, and the clinical staff. However, that doesn’t tire her out. Her favorite part about working at Islands Hospice is talking with a patient’s loved ones and being there for families. 

“It brings me warmth to see a patient and their family get the help they need, just in time,” Ashley explained. “I guess you can say this is my way of being able to connect with the families we work with.”

Ashley has worked at Islands Hospice in Kapolei as an intake assistant for the past year and a half. She was born on Kauai but grew up on Oahu and attended Farrington High School. She received her bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Before working at Islands Hospice, she worked in the hospitality industry. Although healthcare was a completely new field for her, she noticed that working in hospitality gave her transferable skills and traits that she applies to her hospice care work. “Branching off into the healthcare field has allowed me to share my compassion and storytelling with others who most definitely need it the most,” Ashley explained.

In her spare time, she enjoys going to the beach, hiking, doing staycations, and island hopping to Kauai to enjoy quality time with her family.