Winter 2013 - Hospice

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Hospice and Senior Care Facilities
A Model Partnership
For 19 years, Hospice &
Community Care has been
working in close collaboration
with senior care communities and
nursing homes to form successful
partnerships based on a common goal:
to provide compassionate and skilled
care of the highest quality to people
who are in the final weeks to months
of life.
Skilled communities can offer hospice
care to residents facing end of life by
developing working relationships,
including formal contracts, with a
hospice provider. One third of patients
cared for on a daily basis by Hospice
& Community Care live in skilled
nursing locations.
Through this partnership, the Hospice
interdisciplinary team of physicians,
nurses, social workers, chaplains,
complementary therapists and
volunteers are identifying needs and
supplementing the care provided by
these skilled communities by helping
provide medical, emotional and
spiritual support and care to residents
and their families.
The quality, individualized care
Hospice provides to residents of these
skilled communities is no different
than that provided to Hospice patients
who are living at home.
“Hospice embraces the concept that
the senior care community is the
patient’s home and views the staff
as an extension of the family,” said
Susan Young, Hospice & Community
Care Vice President of Patient Care.
“We have the highest respect for the
staff’s loyalty and dedication to their
residents and maintain ongoing,
“St. Anne’s has been impressed with how the Hospice & Community Care team partners with our
staff to provide quality care for our residents. We value Hospice as a resource—not only for our
residents but also their families and our staff as well!”
~ Candace Keates, Vice President of Communty Services, St. Anne’s Retirement Community.
open communication and work
alongside them.”
Residents who are eligible for Medicare
can receive hospice benefits if their
doctor and the hospice medical
director certify that they are terminally
ill and have six months or less to live
if the illness runs its normal course.
The Hospice Medicare Benefit allows
the patient to receive care where they
live. Medicare also covers short-term
inpatient care in an inpatient center
or hospital, if the Hospice team
determines that this level of care is
needed to manage symptoms. Shortterm
respite care is also covered if the
caregiver becomes ill or needs a rest.
A comprehensive “Plan of Care”
outlining needed care and services
to manage symptoms is created by
the Hospice team, the senior care
community staff, the resident, their
physician and family or caregiver.
Hospice also supports the staff, both
during care and as they grieve a loss.
Hospice & Community Care’s
relationship with senior care
communities includes providing