Hospice Care

Everyone deserves to live on their own terms, especially at the end of life. That’s what hospice care can offer—it’s about giving you and your loved ones the opportunity to make decisions and choose what matters most. Ice cream for breakfast? A cocktail with friends? We’re here to help, not judge.

Often, when someone is being treated for a serious illness, they wind up getting a lot of painful, expensive treatments and procedures, even after those treatments stop working. Research shows that many people on hospice care actually live longer than people with the same disease who continue receiving aggressive treatment.

A survey showed that about 60% of Americans would prefer to die at home, but only 30% think they will. Almost no one says they want to die in a hospital, but about a third of people do. Hospice is about caring for you wherever you’re most comfortable.

Hospice care is a Medicare benefit that is available to people in the final months of their lives. But currently, about half of patients die within the first three weeks of being on hospice. One of the most common things families tell us is, “I just wish we had called sooner.” Remember, you can always choose to stop receiving hospice care.

Hospice care follows a unique model that is rooted in the idea that you are a human being, not a patient. It uses a whole team of experts to care for your physical, emotional, spiritual, and practical needs. They can help you get medical equipment for your home, manage symptoms like pain or anxiety, and even help out with errands and household chores.

A survey showed that the #1 concern Americans have about their death is the impact it will have on loved ones. One of the most important aspects of hospice care is providing grief support to families after the death of a loved one. Choosing hospice care means looking out for yourself and the people you love.

Values and Community Mission

A recent study found that only 18% of Americans trust the US healthcare system to put their well-being ahead of profits. It’s not surprising, when you think about how complicated billing and insurance can be. Choosing a community-based, mission-driven provider is a good way to ensure that the care you receive is about what’s best for you, not what makes the most money.

Nearly all of the oldest, most respected hospice organizations in the country began as nonprofits, and many of those organizations are still operating today. As a result, nonprofits often have more experience and a longer track record in their communities than the newer corporate competitors that see hospice as a business opportunity.

Nonprofit organizations provide care for anyone in the community, regardless of their ability to pay.  Knowing how to care for the most vulnerable also means knowing how to deliver the highest quality care to everyone—it’s about putting people first.

• Nonprofits provide 10% more nursing visits, 35% more social worker visits, and twice as many therapy visits vs. for-profit hospices per patient day
• For-profit hospices report spending over 300% more on advertising costs than nonprofit hospices
• For-profit hospices report spending less than half what nonprofit hospices report on bereavement services

The for-profit hospices in our area may advertise more, but on average, families reported having worse care experiences with for-profit hospices and were less likely to recommend for-profits to their peers. Significantly more for-profits were rated in the low-performing category across all eight measures studied in a recent research project.

We are invested in the well-being of our communities. We don’t compromise quality for the sake of year-end revenues. As nonprofit providers, everything we have is reinvested into support for our communities during the final years, months, and days of life.