STERLING – By the end of June, Heartland Home Nursing Inc. in Sterling will be known by a new, yet familiar, name – Gaffey Home Nursing & Hospice Inc.
The name change, though, wasn't made completely by choice.
On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that the Heartland name was trademarked by HCR Healthcare LLC., the parent company to the newly opened Heartland Hospice of Fulton, and that the agency must change the name.
"It's very disappointing and very sad in a way to give up the corporate name we've had for 23 years," said Kim Gaffey, owner and founder of the agency.
She has until June 30 to comply with the order. That means changing the website name, www.heartlandhomenursing.com, changing the telephone listing, and contacting all advertisers of the new name.
Although the name may be different, Gaffey stresses the staff and services offered will remain the same.
"The reason we chose the [Gaffey] name is so people will know that it's still our company," Gaffey said. "We have been a long-standing health care company in the community and we're going to remain that way."
According to the federal lawsuit filed in April, HCR trademarked the "Heartland" name in 1975. The company has more than 500 locations in 32 states, according to its website.
Gaffey's agency, founded in 1991 and located at 3408 E. 23rd St., provides hospice care for patients, among other services, in Lee, Ogle, Whiteside, and Carroll counties, as well as parts of Bureau, Henry, Jo Daviess and Winnebago counties.
Gaffey said she has been in negotiations with HCR since July 2009, just four months after her agency became a certified hospice agency, and that negotiations were "amicable."