Services > Hospice
Black River Hospice
It’s about how you live….
Each of us has the right to die pain-free and with dignity.
What is Hospice?
Hospice is a team-oriented approach to expert medical care management. It is support tailored to the patient’s needs and wishes. Support is provided to the patient’s loved ones as well.
The focus of hospice relies on the belief that each of us has the right to die pain-free and with dignity and that our loved ones will receive the necessary support to allow us to do so. The focus of hospice is on caring, not curing, and in most cases, care is provided to you in your own home. Hospice is available to persons of any age, religion, race, or illness. Hospice is covered under Medicare, Medicaid, VA. and most private insurance plans including managed care organizations.
How Does Hospice Work?
Hospice care is for any person who has a life-limiting or terminal illness. Most reimbursement sources require a prognosis of six months or less if the terminal illness runs its normal course. Patients with both cancer and non-cancer illnesses are eligible to receive hospice care. All hospices consider the patient and family together as a unit of care. Typically, a family member serves as primary caregiver and when appropriate, makes decisions for the terminally ill individual.
Who is the Hospice Team?
Hospice care is a family-centered approach that includes a team of nurses, social workers, chaplains, and trained volunteers. They work together to focus on the patient’s needs: physical, spiritual, psychosocial. The team consists of:
- The patient’s personal physician
- Hospice physician (medical director)
- Social worker
- Nurses
- Home health aid
- Trained volunteers
- Dietitian and speech, physical, and occupational therapists if needed
What service does the Hospice Team provide?
Among its major responsibilities, the interdisciplinary team:
- Manages the patient’s pain and symptoms
- Assists the patient with the emotional and psychosocial and spiritual aspects of dying
- Coaches the family on how to care for the patient
- Provides needed medications, medical supplies, and equipment
- Delivers special services like speech and physical therapy when needed
- Makes short-term inpatient care available when pain or symptoms become too difficult to manage at home, or the caregiver needs respite time
- Provides bereavement care and counseling to surviving friends and relatives
How is Hospice paid for?
Hospice is paid for through the Medicare Hospice Benefit, Medicaid Hospice Benefit, and by most private insurers. If a person does not have coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, or insurance, Black River Hospice will work with the person and their family to ensure that needed services are provided.
When is the right time to ask about Hospice Care?
Now is the best time to learn more about hospice care and ask questions about what to expect. Although end-of-life care may be difficult to discuss, it is best for the loved ones and family members to share their wishes long before it becomes a concern.
Can I refer someone to Hospice?
Anyone may call Black River Hospice at 715-284-1343 to request an informational visit or assessment for themselves, a family member, or a friend. A Hospice staff member will visit the home at each person’s convenience. The person’s physician will then be contacted to obtain certification into the Hospice Program.
For more information about Hospice, contact Ellen Ness, RN, Hospice Manager at Black River Memorial Hospital, 715-284-1365 or nesse@brmh.net, or Lea Coville, MD, Hospice Medical Director at the Krohn Clinic, 715-284-4311.
Additional Links:
www.wisconsinhospice.org
www.caringinfo.org
www.nhpco.org
www.nahc.org