If you have any questions that are not answered here, please call us at 978-774-7566.
What is Hospice?
Hospice is a comprehensive, compassionate program of care to help people with life-limiting illnesses maintain dignity and comfort, surrounded by those they love.
Hospice provides physical, emotional, spiritual and social support to patients and their families wherever they call home – their longtime residence, hospitals, assisted living facilities and nursing homes.
Hospice care is available to anyone with an illness whose life expectancy is measured in months, rather than years.
What exactly is provided?
Hospice care from Hospice of the North Shore includes the services of physicians, registered and licensed practical nurses, social workers, chaplains, certified hospice aides, trained volunteers and bereavement counselors. Hospice of the North Shore also provides prescription drugs and medical supplies related to the life-limiting illness, therapies (physical, occupational and speech), nutritional counseling, short-term inpatient care and respite care as needed for the management of the patient’s illness.
Each patient’s care is coordinated by a registered nurse and is provided under the direction of the patient’s attending physician and the hospice medical director. A hospice nurse is accessible 24 hours a day by phone to assist with questions or emergencies and can make a home visit if needed.
I always thought that hospice meant giving up hope. Doesn’t it mean that there’s nothing more the doctors can do?
Physicians and patients turn to hospice when their active curative treatment is no longer effective. Hope then focuses on comfort, on living each day to the fullest and on spending time with family. Hospice supports these hopes. Time and time again, patients and families who have used Hospice of the North Shore services tell us that hospice restores hope and enables patients and their families to achieve their goals and wishes in the time they have remaining.
When is the right time to contact hospice?
At any time during a life-limiting illness, it’s appropriate to discuss all of a patient’s care options, including hospice. When curative treatments are no longer effective, Hospice of the North Shore can help by providing comfort and symptom management, as well as critical support for family members and loved ones. If a patient is still receiving active treatment for a cure or is not ready for hospice, they may be referred to Palliative Care of the North Shore, a program of Hospice of the North Shore.
Is caring for the patient at home the only way hospice care is offered?
No. While most hospice care is provided to patients in their personal residence, many patients live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Hospice of the North Shore provides care in patients’ homes, nearly 50 area nursing homes and assisted living facilities, hospice units in area hospitals, and at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, MA.
Can a hospice patient continue with his or her own doctor?
Yes. The Hospice of the North Shore medical director is available for consultation with the patient's physician. Hospice nurses will work with the patient's doctor on all aspects of care.
What if people involved in the patient’s care aren’t actually family?
Hospice of the North Shore supports the patient and whomever the patient wants to involve in their care.
Can a patient who lives alone get hospice care?
Yes. Hospice of the North Shore works with patients who live alone, and helps them plan ahead when their illness progresses, assisting with arrangements for private-duty help at home, for transition to a long-term care facility, or for care in the Kaplan Family Hospice House.
The VNA has hospice services; how is hospice care from Hospice of the North Shore different?
While several area VNAs have an affiliated hospice program, Hospice of the North Shore was founded solely to provide end of life care. Additionally, the depth and breadth of services we offer is unmatched. Numerous VNAs have recognized this and we work with them to provide a bridge program to hospice.
I’m concerned if I choose hospice services in the nursing home, the nursing home staff will feel they weren’t doing a good job.
Hospice of the North Shore works in close partnership with the nursing home staff. Our nursing home partners appreciate the added expertise and care given by Hospice of the North Shore nurses, social workers, hospice aides, chaplains and volunteers. In addition, Hospice of the North Shore provides emotional support and assistance to the nursing home staff who often have long-term relationships with their residents.
Who is eligible for hospice services?
Hospice of the North Shore serves persons of any age with any life-limiting illness. Among the illnesses our patients have had are: cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiac diseases, respiratory diseases and neurological illnesses. Federal law requires a doctor's statement of life expectancy of six months or less.
Who pays for hospice care?
Medicare and Medicaid, as well as most managed care plans (HMO Blue, Tufts Health Plan, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, etc.) and health insurance carriers provide full coverage for hospice services, usually without co-pays or deductibles. Generous support from the community enables Hospice of the North Shore to continue to provide care to patients who are in need.
Who can make a referral to Hospice of the North Shore?
Anyone from patients, family members or friends to physicians, discharge planners, continuing care nurses, case managers, nursing facility staff and clergy can refer someone to us by calling 978-774-7566.