Hospice Care
Hospice is specialty care for people living with advanced illness who wish to focus on comfort and relief from distressing symptoms rather than curative treatment. Hospice is a philosophy of care that promotes quality of life and the alleviation of suffering.
Our hospice team serves people of any age with advanced illness including, but not limited to, cancer, heart or lung disease, kidney or liver disease, dementia, Parkinson’s and ALS.
Hospice care is appropriate for people who have a prognosis of approximately six months or less. While advanced illness affects how a person lives, much can be done to improve physical comfort and emotional well-being. Many people receiving hospice care continue to enjoy activities that are meaningful to them. Our hospice team helps people remain mobile, alert, and engaged for as long as their conditions will allow.
Soon after receiving a diagnosis of a life-limiting illness, you and your family may wish to consider all your care options so you are better able to make fully informed decisions. The earlier hospice becomes involved, the better we can serve and support you and your family.
If you’re not ready to consider hospice, you may still benefit from Good Sam’s palliative care services.
Simply put, hospice is about choosing life. It’s about believing that every moment, of every hour, of every day matters and deciding to savor every one.
Hospice teams work with existing physicians and nursing staff to care for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of both the patient and their family and loved ones. But our goal is unique compared to traditional restorative care. We focus on caring, rather than curing, and we do whatever it takes to help patients and loved ones face the journey ahead with clarity and dignity.
Hospice services range from pain management to a host of alternative therapies, and these programs can be implemented wherever the patient is most comfortable: a private residence, nursing home, apartment, etc. While hospice is not a 24/7 service, Good Samaritan and most hospice programs are on-call around the clock should a need arise.
Palliative care provides comfort and minimizes symptoms, possibly alongside curative treatments. Hospice is a type of comfort care for those whose life expectancy is six months or less, but the journey is unique to each individual. Hospice is holistic in nature. In addition to symptom management, hospice addresses the spiritual, mental and emotional challenges of end-of-life and includes the needs of both the patient and the family in the plan of care.
Resources
Care Services
Your physician has indicated that, in their best judgement, you are eligible to receive hospice care. At your request, your physician continues to follow you and works with our staff to implement the plan of care.
Our Hospice Medical Director works with our attending physician and hospice team to ensure that you are comfortable and your symptoms are managed. The Hospice Medical Director is responsible for routinely reviewing your medical information and certifying that your condition continues to meet hospice eligibility criteria.
Our Hospice Nurse Practitioners work with the hospice team to provide expert pain and symptom management and visit patients a needed to conduct Medicare Face to Face visits to assess continuing hospice eligibility.
The RN Care Manager coordinates your care with the interdisciplinary team, provides expert assessment and symptom management, and arranges medications, supplies, and medical equipment, The hospice nurse visits regularly to teach you and your family or caregivers about your illness, what to expect, and how to provide care.
The hospice aide assists with personal care needs and homemaker services under the supervision of the hospice nurse. Hospice aides assist you with bathing, grooming, skin and mouth care, as well as changing linens, based on your plan of care.
The hospice social worker helps you and your family members cope with physical and emotional changes associated with advanced illness. Social workers provide counseling, grief support, assistance with completing advance directives and referrals to community resources as needed.
The hospice chaplain provides emotional and spiritual support for you and your loved ones. The chaplain offers presence, companionship, prayer, readings, and blessings. They facilitate spiritual reflection, life review, and legacy creation through our Memory Catchers program as requested. The chaplains may coordinate with your pastor, priest, rabbi, imam, or spiritual leader if desired.
Hospice volunteers are available to visit you and your family to provide support and companionship through services such as reading, assisting with light chores, and sitting with you so a caregiver can take a short break or run errands. Please note that volunteers are not a substitute for paid caregivers.
The hospice bereavement coordinator is available to provide individual and family supportive counseling, as well as guidance and educational resources to help you and your family cope with grief and loss.
Based on your needs, additional therapy services are available such as dietary, physical, occupational, and speech therapies.
- Medical equipment and supplies
- Medications related to the terminal illness
- Allied health professionals such as physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and dietitians
- Lab and diagnostic tests related to the terminal illness
- Ambulance service for the purpose of change of level of care, such as transportation to the hospital for inpatient care or to a nursing home for respite
Good Sam is a Medicare-certified hospice which means the Medicare Hospice Benefit covers the basic costs of these core services. To receive hospice care under the Medicare Hospice Benefit, an individual must be entitled to Medicare Part A and be certified by the attending physician and the hospice medical director as having a life-limiting illness. The Medicare Hospice Benefit continues indefinitely, as long as there is physician certification of terminal illness. Patients can withdraw from the Hospice Benefit at any time and resume all regular Medicare benefits.
As a licensed and certified provider of hospice services, Good Sam is also reimbursed by Medicaid, Champus, Tricare, The Veterans’ Administration and insurance carriers such as Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and traditional fee-for-service companies. For patients without insurance, Good Samaritan Hospice will provide services regardless of ability to pay.
Advance Directives
We encourage everyone to make sure your Advance Directives are completed and copies are distributed to your physician, your healthcare agent, your family and made widely available. Equally important is taking the time to have this very important conversation with your family, friends, physicians and pastors to let them know what you would want if you were unable to communicate your wishes. Feel free to call our office at 540.776.0198 for more information or guidance in completing your directives. Also, if you would like someone to come speak to your group/organization about Advance Directives and end-of-life considerations, please give us a call at 540.776.0198.
Five Wishes Advance Directives is available by calling Good Sam’s office at 540.776.0198.
Spiritual & Bereavement Support
Good Samaritan believes that dying is more than a biological process; it is also a sacred journey in which patients and families draw upon their faith and seek spiritual ways of dealing with end-of-life concerns. Spiritual care services are designed to meet the personal needs of all patients and caregivers, regardless of individual faiths or beliefs. At Good Sam, the goal of spiritual care is to discover, respect and utilize the patient’s culture and personal beliefs in order to assist them in achieving a spiritually peaceful death.
Good Sam’s chaplains practice respect, openness and acceptance. We believe that authentic spiritual care takes place in relationships of respect, trust and honesty in ways that enhance wholeness and well-being. Spiritual services may include elements of spiritual counseling through active and non-judgmental listening, rituals such as scripture reading, prayer, meditation, music, reminiscence, anointing, baptism, blessings, memorial services and more.
Upon admission to hospice care, the patient will be asked if a chaplain visit would be helpful. Spiritual care is an optional support service and no pressure is placed upon patients or families to receive these services. However, if elected, patients can rest assured that Good Sam’s chaplains work in collaboration with the diverse and rich spiritual traditions of the patients and caregivers we serve.
Bereavement Care
Following a death, Good Sam’s bereavement coordinator contacts the family and offers grief support for up to a year after the loss. This care may be in the form of visits, phone calls, letters or support groups, and is intended to be a continued help and presence for grieving loved ones. Good Sam also has a tradition of leadership through community outreach and education in the areas of end-of-life and bereavement care.
