Hospice care neither hastens nor postpones death
Choosing Hospice does not mean there’s no turning back. Treatments that are important to your care for quality of life usually are continued. If your illness improves, you can leave hospice care at any time and return if you choose to.
Hospice stresses quality of life and is an alternative to aggressive medical or curative treatments. The care plan is as unique and individual as one’s life.
A multi-disciplinary team of professionals including a hospice and palliative care certified medical director, hospice trained nurses, social workers, spiritual counselors, hospice aides, therapists, and volunteers working together to address the unique physical, social, emotional, and spiritual needs of each patient and family.
Hospice is available to anyone with a terminal disease with a prognosis of six months or less with a primary goal to control pain and other symptoms so the person can remain as alert and comfortable as possible. The hospice team is a partner to support family and caregivers as they care for their loved ones who are experiencing an advanced, life-limiting illness and many people live longer under hospice care once the symptoms of their disease are being managed.
Calling Hospice is the opposite of giving up hope – it’s asking for help to provide compassionate care for your loved one in the last phases of an incurable disease so that they may live as fully and comfortably as possible. Hospice care is provided to patients wherever they call home.
Refer now by calling us at 530-274-5139
Enhancing the quality of life for the time that remains
There may come a time when efforts to cure or slow an illness are not working and can even be harmful, rather than helpful. Frequently physicians will continue to pursue treatment because they assume that’s what you would want. Unfortunately, this delay can prevent you from utilizing the time you have left to engage with friends and family while you are able.
hospice – that can help ensure that your final months of life are as comfortable and fulfilling as possible for you and your loved ones.
Hospice may be the right choice when:
- The treatments for a disease are not working or are debilitating and life expectancy is six months or less.
- ER visits or hospitalizations become more frequent and result in no real improvement.
- There has been a progressive, unintentional weight loss of more than 10% of the body weight over the past 6 months.
- Recurrent or intractable infections are present.
- An increase in pain, nausea, breathing distress, or other symptoms
- Repeated trips to the emergency room or hospitalizations
- Increased assistance needed for walking, eating, bathing, dressing, or using the restroom
- Decreasing alertness, emotionally withdrawn, sleeping more, or difficulty with comprehension
- You are no longer receiving treatments to cure your disease.
Medicare, Medi-Cal, and private insurers will provide coverage for hospice care when physicians diagnose that a patient has six months (or less) to live and curative treatment is no longer beneficial. Depending on the course of the disease, many patients live longer than six months once their symptoms are managed. Unfortunately, too often people don’t receive the support hospice provides until the final weeks or even days of life.
Requesting Hospice care is a personal decision. Understanding that at a certain point, doing “everything possible” may no longer be helping. Sometimes the burdens of a treatment outweigh the benefits. For instance, an aggressive treatment might give you another month of life, but make you feel too ill to enjoy that time. Palliative doctors can help you assess the advantages and disadvantages of specific treatments.
Getting Started
- Hospice of the Foothills is not the primary caregiver but offers a team to empower, support and supplement the ongoing efforts of families and caregivers to provide care to their loved one and help them live a higher quality of life.
- Individuals are referred to hospice by their personal physician, family, friends, clergy, or themselves.
- You can begin the discussion with your doctor
- You can call for more information or an evaluation 530.272.5739
- You can request information or an evaluation via email
- A hospice registered nurse evaluates what each person and family needs
- Next Step – please read Entering Our Care Program
Entering Our Care Program
To begin care with Hospice of the Foothills, the following are needed:
- Your personal primary care physician and our medical director both certify that you have a prognosis of six months or less, if the illness runs its usual course.
- Your goals for care focus on comfort and quality of life rather than on cure of your illness.
- Hospice services are not limited to a six-month time period. You will continue to receive hospice services beyond six months if nursing, nurse practitioner, and medical Director evaluations determine the continued appropriateness of care and your goals continue to be comfort-based end-of-life care.
- Develops a plan of care. The plan addresses the entire family’s needs: medical, emotional, psychological, spiritual and support services.
- The nurse coordinates the care with Hospice of the Foothills’ medical director, your personal physician and the full interdisciplinary team of health professionals.
- Under the direction of a physician, hospice provides an all-inclusive set of services needed to manage all a person’s symptoms and complications.
Can I Change My Mind?
A person may elect to end their hospice care at any time and then may receive hospice care again, if desired, later. For example, an individual can leave hospice to try a new curative treat
The hospice you choose really can make a difference.
The hospice you choose really can make a difference.
MISSION: With expertise, quality, and compassion we empower and guide individuals and families to prepare for and navigate life’s challenging chapters.
VISION: To have a community that fully embraces the Journey of life and death.
Compassion:
Hospice of the Foothills embodies the most experienced, well-respected hospice care team in this region. Since 1979 we have been a part of the fabric of this community delivering advanced care and supportive programs/services to our neighbors, co-workers, friends, and families.
Our caregivers and professionals are experts in understanding the needs and expectations of our patients and family members to customize care plans to meet those needs. Our interdisciplinary care team under the direction of a physician enables the patient to live as fully and as comfortably as possible. Your personal physician is an essential part of the team.
Expertise:
It is important to know that you have a choice of which hospice agency you would like to care for you or your loved one. Hospice of the Foothills has received an overall Medicare ranking* which exceeds the national benchmark for quality of care and has received accreditation with “deemed status” by The Joint Commission**. The ‘deemed status’ designation is the ultimate seal of excellence and validates the exemplary level of care our team provides.
* Hospice quality data is available to the public at www.medicare.gov/hospicecompare We encourage you to search for all Medicare-approved hospice providers and access their performance statistics before making a decision for you or your loved one.
** The Joint Commission, the nation’s oldest and largest standards-setting and assessment body in health care. Accreditation is regarded as one of the core ways to measure the quality of an organization and demonstrates compliance with industry quality principles.
Considering a referral to Hospice of the Foothills?
Hospice of the Foothills believes that everyone should have access to appropriate care. Hospice of the Foothills provides hospice services at no cost to the patient or their family.
Hospice of the Foothills provides its services to eligible individuals throughout all of western Nevada and Placer Counties regardless of age, race, religion, sexual orientation, diagnosis or financial status.
As a health care provider your focus is to keep your patients well and healthy throughout their entire lives. Inevitably, some of your patients will experience a life-limiting illness. We are here for your patients.
How to make a referral to Hospice of the Foothills
Our hospice intake team can help answer your eligibility, referral, and billing questions.
Healthcare providers can make a referral in the following ways:
- Call our intake supervisor at 530-272-5739
- Fax referral information to 530-272-0618
- Ask for a consult with our professional team
- Refer now by calling us at 530-272-5739
Helpful steps when discussing hospice care with your patient and their family:
- Establish an appropriate setting for discussion
- Ask the patient and family what they understand
- Find out what they expect will happen
- Discuss overall goals and how Hospice of the Foothills will help achieve them
- Respond to emotions
- Establish and implement the plan
- Read Dr. von Gunten’s article, “Discussing Hospice Care”, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Who is hospice care appropriate for? Hospice may be appropriate for patients of all ages, with any of the following:
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer
- HIV/AIDS
- Severe birth defects
- Stroke
- Alzheimer’s
- Cardiovascular disorder
- Dementia
- Renal diseases
- Liver disease
- Lung disease
Please note that even without the above, hospice may be appropriate for your patient. To explore options, Hospice of the Foothills will meet with patients and their loved ones to discuss possible hospice care. For more information, please call 530-272-5739.
Reimbursement for Services
Medicare, MediCal and private insurance plans based in the state of California have a hospice benefit that covers most costs associated with hospice care. Our hospice intake team can help answer your eligibility, referral, and billing questions. Refer now by calling us at 530-272-5739.
The following benefits are covered when related to the hospice diagnosis:
Home visits by the hospice team, which can include:
- Hospice physician
- Hospice nurse
- Hospice aide
- Social worker
- Spiritual counselor
- Bereavement counselor
- Hospice volunteer
- Medications related to the hospice diagnosis
- Medical equipment / supplies
- Respite care
- Inpatient or crisis care
- Bereavement services
- Physical, speech and occupational therapy
- Dietary counseling
The People We Support
"They were there when I needed them the most! My father lived longer and in better health with Hospice of the Foothills great, caring, wonderful staff! I give thanks every day to the RN's, spiritual staff, Hospice Aides and Bereavement staff for the care, kindness and love that they demonstrated for my family."
"The dedication of the staff is exemplary. As a result, the patients, their families and the community receive the best care possible when it counts."
“Hospice of the Foothills provided our mom with kind and attentive care. They patiently answered our questions, talking to us over the phone, and coming in person as needed. We felt supported during this difficult time, and are grateful."
"Our family will forever be in gratitude for every service, every smiling face and comforting voice. Thank you for treating my beloved husband with the utmost kindness, dignity and respect. We could not have wished for better care."
"They were very caring and so kind to my wife who was quite sick at the time. I am so thankful for the love that was shown from both the Nurse and the Caregiver. Thank you again!"
End-of-Life Option Act
At Foothills Compassionate Care, we honor the choices of our patients, including those who wish to explore all legal end-of-life options. The California End-of-Life Option Act allows terminally ill adults (18 and older) with six months or less to live to request medication from a physician that they can take to peacefully end their lives.
Here is what you need to know about our role in this process:
- Compassionate Care, Always: We are committed to providing compassionate, supportive hospice care. Whether or not a patient chooses to pursue this option, we will continue to offer our full range of services.
- Guidance & Support: If a patient wants to learn more about the law, we encourage them to speak with their physician. Our team is available to discuss end-of-life choices with sensitivity and respect.
- No Judgment, Just Care: We understand this is a deeply personal decision. If a patient chooses medical aid-in-dying, we will respect their wishes and continue to provide emotional, social, and spiritual support.
- Staff Participation: Our team members may choose whether to be involved in cases where patients pursue medical aid-in-dying. If a staff member is not comfortable, another caregiver will be assigned.
- Legal & Ethical Responsibility: We follow all state regulations and document patient wishes while ensuring high-quality end-of-life care.
Our goal is to honor your choice.
Our goal is to support individuals and families during life’s final chapter—honoring choices, providing comfort, and ensuring dignity every step of the way. You can view our policy in its entirety here.
For in-depth information about this topic, visit the Academy of Aid-in-Dying Medicine or contact Director of Patient Care Services, Emily Turcios. 530.272.5739.