For over a decade, hospice facilities have treated thousands of individuals in Chattanooga and North Georgia. Employing compassionate healthcare professionals who provide patients with a more comforting end-of-life experience, hospice plays a crucial role in the lives of those who wish to pass away with dignity and peace of mind.

 

The Beginning of Hospice
The term “hospice” is derived from the Latin word “hospitium” which means guesthouse, according to research. Originally referred to as a resting place for exhausted or sick travelers returning from religious pilgrimages, hospice has since evolved and expanded its services.

 

In the 1960s, British physician Dame Cicely Saunders founded the modern hospice movement and practiced medicine with a compassionate heart as well as with a team approach. She drew focus to patients’ social, emotional, and spiritual needs. She faithfully cared for terminally ill patients at St. Christopher’s Hospital (now Hospice) in south London – the same hospice in which she died in 2005 at the age of 87.

 

In 1974, the United States opened its first hospice in New Haven, Connecticut. Today, there are over 3,000 hospice facilities treating patients in the United States.

 

The idea that a person must be in his or her final two weeks of life marks a common misconception regarding hospice, says Theresa Davis, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Hospice of Chattanooga.

 

“You don’t have to be in your last two weeks of life to access hospice services,” Davis added. “You can be at the onset of your terminal diagnosis. We’ve had patients who have lived as long as five years because their terminal illness did not progress rapidly.”

 

Julie Guidry, executive director at Trinity Hospice in Chattanooga, agrees with Davis, noting that although hospice aims to neither prolong life nor to hasten death, there is a public perception that hospice is only involved during the last few hours or days of a patient’s life.

 

A second misconception regarding hospice is that once patients begin hospice treatment, they are no longer eligible for any other type of medical attention and can no longer be seen by their physicians. Guidry says, “The truth is that hospice is a Medicare benefit separate from the Medicare benefits primarily used for healthcare and they can both be used simultaneously for different symptoms.”

 

According to Guidry, hospice has become one of the most financially beneficial programs to help individuals and their families cope with end of life issues. “Hospice is an excellent option for individuals who do not wish to have repeated ambulance runs, lengthy hospital stays, aggressive treatments and/or nursing home placement.”

Davis added, “Moreover, families that have lost a loved one due to a car wreck, shooting or stabbing, fire, suicide, or homicide, can also seek solace through the hospice’s bereavement counseling.” She says that at Hospice of Chattanooga, bereavement counselors conduct outreach to area schools, police, emergency personnel, and the medical community. “Last year we provided 700 families with free counseling for non-hospice related deaths. Our care team addresses the bereavement issues of the community.”

 

 

Although many people are unaware of the full extent of hospice services, they are often hesitant to ask because of its despondent nature.  

 

“People tend to look at end of life issues and treatments as a sad and binding time in one’s life,” Guidry adds. “We are here to help with those issues and create an atmosphere in the family’s own home or care facility that helps give families quality time together in the last few months of their loved ones’ lives. “And we believe it’s important to make every life as meaningful as possible, from the first few days of a life-limiting illness to the last.”

 

Chattanooga and North Georgia boast several hospice companies which serve surrounding counties – each company offers an array of services.

 

Chad Harlin, RN, clinical manager says hospice alleviates the three greatest fears at the end of life including pain/discomfort, burdening others, and loss of control. He points out that hospice provides four levels of care: 1) routine care; 2)  general in-patient, short term care to address and resolve a symptom or management crisis, which is typically delivered in a contracted hospital or nursing facility; 2) respite care to address or  resolve a care giving crisis, or to offer a full-time caregiver a break, which is delivered in a contracted hospital or nursing facility; 4) continuous short-term care to resolve a symptom management or caregiver crisis, which is often delivered in a patient’s home.

 

Whether a hospice employee is a nurse, physical therapist, or chaplain, they are heavily relied upon not only by patients and their families, but also by their fellow coworkers. John McCarty, a chaplain for Adventa Hospice for the past four years, says his primary concern is the end of life spiritual care. “However, we oversee not only the spiritual care of our patients and their families but also our employees.”

 

 

Caris Healthcare was established in 2003. According to Sandra Good, marketing representative, it is Tennessee’s only state-wide Hospice and palliative care provider. Good said, “Caris is committed to being a world class hospice,” noting the word “Caris” comes from an ancient Greek word meaning grace.

 

Caris Healthcare is partnering with Hospice Ethiopia Association to help them meet the needs of those served and build awareness for hospice care. Hospice Ethiopia is a small privately run organization that serves about 65 patients a day. The organization's founder, Sr. Tsigereda Yisfawossen (Sister Rose), presently serves as director and staff nurse.   

 

Among Caris Healthcare’s many services are managing the patient’s pain and symptoms, assisting the patient with the emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of dying, and coaching the family on how to care for the patient.

 

Hospice of Chattanooga serves 18 counties in Tennessee and North Georgia and treats patients of all ages.  It offers a broad array of services, including: regularly scheduled nurse visits; personal care provided by Certified Nursing Assistants; nurses on-call twenty four hours a day, seven days a week; social services to assists with problem management and family needs; education about illness; medical equipment, supplies and medication related to terminal illness; short term inpatient care for symptom control or family respite; spiritual support and counseling; volunteer support and assistance for the patient or caregivers and bereavement support. Hospice of Chattanooga delivers care at prisons, hospitals, veterans’ facilities, as well as in patients’ homes, nursing homes or assisted living facilities.

 

Like other area hospice facilities, Hospice of Chattanooga does not discriminate based on race, religion, or a person’s ability to pay, and like most hospice companies, accepts all forms of insurance.

 

Opening in 1986, Hutcheson Hospice is owned and operated by Hutcheson Medical Center and serves all patients needing care regardless of their ability to pay. Primarily servicing three counties in Northwest Georgia, including Catoosa, Dade and Walker, the hospice accepts Medicare, Georgia Medicaid and most insurance carriers.

 

According to Director Patti Nethery, Hutcheson Hospice provides care to people at the end of life with a focus on comfort and caring. Services include nursing, social work, personal care, occupational therapy and counseling.

 

“The staff of Hutcheson Hospice provides comfort care for the family and the patient with respect for their wishes,” notes Nethery. “Hospice affirms life but never denies death, recognizes dying as a normal process of life, and offers choices. Hospice is about faith, hope and caring.”

 

At Trinity Hospice in Chattanooga, Guidry says families are offered several benefits that help in providing comfort and support during a very difficult time. Trinity Hospice provides a bevy of items that are needed as a result of the hospice diagnosis. Guidry says several benefits are available at no cost to the family. These include: prescription and over the counter medications related to the patient’s hospice diagnosis, incontinence products, medical equipment such as hospital beds, bedside commodes, wheelchairs, and feeding pumps, oxygen therapy and supplies, specialized pain management, as well as 24 hour/7 days a week nursing coverage.

 

Individuals choose hospice care for various reasons. “Many patients reach a point in their lives where they no longer wish to seek aggressive treatments, or they cannot easily arrive to a physician’s visit,” says Guidry, “and they prefer to spend quality time in their own home with their loved ones around them.

 

A recent study conducted by Duke University regarding hospice care in America revealed that hospice services save money for Medicare. Researchers discovered that hospice reduced Medicare costs by an average of $2,309 per hospice patient. The study indicates that for cancer patients, hospice use decreased Medicare costs up until 233 days of care. For non-cancer patients, there were cost savings seen up until 154 days of care.

According to Theresa Davis at Hospice of Chattanooga, hospice care is insured by the Medicare Hospice Benefit enacted in 1982, provided the hospice program is Medicare certified. The Medicare Hospice Benefit covers nursing services on an intermittent basis; physician services; drugs, including outpatient drugs for pain relief and symptom management; physical, occupational and speech-language therapy; home health aide and homemaker services; medical supplies and appliances; short-term inpatient care, including respite care; medical social services; spiritual, dietary and other counseling; continuing care at home during periods of crisis; trained volunteers; and bereavement services. Many private insurance companies offer a comprehensive hospice care benefit plan as well. However, many hospice programs rely heavily, if not entirely, on grants, donations and memorials to meet the needs of their patients and families.

“The general population does not understand their treatment options or choices and the Medicare/Medicaid coverage for services,” Guidry says. “Hospice care is a covered service by Medicare as long as certain guidelines are met and fulfilled.” She says hospice has become one of the most financially beneficial programs to help individuals and their families cope with end of life issues. “It is an excellent option to individuals who do not wish to have repeated ambulance runs, lengthy hospital stays, aggressive treatments and/or nursing home placement.”

 

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization reports that 1.3 million patients received care from one of the nation’s 4,500 hospice providers in 2006. This represents a steady increase of more than 100,000 patients than the previous year. Approximately 35 percent of all deaths in the United States were under the care of a hospice program.

 

Considered a resting place on a long and uneasy sojourn, a hospice gives terminally ill patients and those who have suffered loss, a sense of relief in the face of terminal illness or unspeakable death. Hospice helps people give meaning to their final days and makes their remaining days with family as comforting as possible.