A Special Kind of Caring
Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel
Patient care or grief support volunteers with Hospice of Humboldt can help a patient or family at a time when it matters most. Volunteers often say it’s one of the most
rewarding experiences of their lives.
Hospice is a special kind of caring. When a cure is no longer possible, hope continues, but the goal changes from restoring health to hope for dignity and purpose in the time remaining, and
a peaceful, comfortable death at the end.
We are an agency that cares for people in our community who
are in the last stage of life so that they can die at home, in a familiar environment, surrounded by their loved ones. But Hospice of Humboldt is more than a health care provider. Hospice is a philosophy of caring.
If this sounds like something you might like to do, an eight-hour
volunteer training is offered January 26 and 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
and will provide information on the hospice team philosophy and on a
variety of volunteer programs.
Patient care specialists serve patients in their homes, work in the Pet Peace of Mind program helping patients and families care for their pets, or serve patients who are veterans in the We Honor Veterans program. Grief support specialists lead grief support groups or serve the bereaved one-on-one as a grief companion, helping them to rediscover the activities they enjoy.
Other volunteer positions at Hospice available that do not require this training include office work in Eureka and retail work at the Hospice Shop in Arcata.
Hospice of Humboldt has been serving families locally for more than 33 years and has a staff of 80 employees and 125 volunteers. Hospice provided end-of-life care to 605 patients last year who, as a result, were able to die with dignity and in comfort.
For more information on volunteer opportunities or to sign up for the training,
call Hospice of Humboldt at 445-8443 or visit www.hospiceofhumboldt.org.
(Posted by Skippy Massey)
Our experience with Hospice was not with volunteers, it was with the
permanent staff. OMG! During the final days of my sister’s life,
she was turned over to Hospice by the hospital staff. She fired Hospice after the fourth visit. They canceled two visits,
rescheduled and were late two visits. The female supervising nurse
was very competent. The male nurse told my sister on his second
visit, how much worse she looked than his last visit. They offered no
help, except to get my sister a walker with wheels. They also
offered volunteers to come in and bathe her. Can you imagine a 76 year old woman, letting two male volunteers come into her home and bathe her? I am omitting some of the ignorant conversation that was
made by the male nurse. She fired Hospice after the male nurse
showed up 30 minutes late. Immediately after the medical supply
store called and wanted to pick up the walker or they wanted $50.00
for the walker. My sister bought the walker, because she could no
longer stand by herself. The Medicare bill for those 4 visits was
over $6,000.00. I questioned this statement and was told they could
charge for stand-by. I was also told that Medicare was changing
this procedure. I truly believe I would rather go die in a field
rather than have these people pretend they gave a damn for anything
except the money they would receive.
I’d like to invite “know it all” to call Rebecca Simone, Director of Quality at Hospice of Humboldt, at 445-8443. We take all complaints very seriously and we will want to investigate her sister’s experience. In order to continually improve our patient service and care it’s important to hear complaints directly. We care about learning what steps to take to provide the heartfelt care we want to provide. I hope “know it all” contacts Hospice.
Just a note—our volunteers do not bathe patients. Only our fully trained and certified Home Health Aides bathe patients. We employ both male and female Home Health Aides, and always try to meet the patient’s gender preference.
When a patient is on Hospice service, we lease the medical equipment they need related to their diagnosis from local medical supply companies. If a patient ends Hospice service, the equipment we lease is returned to the medical supply company.
Patients receive a “Medicare Summary Notice,” accompanied by a letter from Hospice stating this is not a bill. For their tracking purposes, Medicare requires us to list staff services a patient receives with an assigned rate. That is neither what Hospice charges nor what Hospice receives in payment from Medicare. We receive a flat per day service fee, a rate set by Medicare. For our patients, hospice services are paid for by their Medicare benefit, Medi-Cal, Veteran’s benefits or private insurance. Patients without public or private insurance pay on a sliding fee scale. No one is turned away for lack of funds.
I am a Hospice patient care volunteer and I can honestly say that I have never met anyone in the entire organization that was not 100% focused on the care and well being of the patients and their families. It is unfair of “know it all” to say no one at Hospice gives a damn and that they are only in it for the money. With all due respect to “know it all”, that is not been my experience or the experience of thousands of families in Humboldt that have used the services of Hospice over the years.