Hi everyone, just wanted to give you a quick update on my dad. The hospice group who initially was "treating" him (more like trying to euthanize him) finally got on my mom's and my last nerve and we moved on to a new group called Crossroads. They have been great. They are giving my dad Remeron and it's really helped him to regain more appetite and his sleep is better. He is joking even more than he used to. He is happy. This new agency has been great. I've not seen my mom this relieved and pleased with my dad's care in months.
There has been an alarming uptick in the number of hospice groups obsessing on getting their death numbers up as quickly as possible in various parts of the country. The group we just left had many signs of being just that- a euthanization activist group rather than a palliative/hospice/comfort care agency. Keep a close eye on your loved ones. Don't jump to conclusions of course and don't assume that all hospice agencies are corrupt (because they definitely are not) but just be aware that sometimes there are problems and you may need to switch.
The CEO retired in 2020, and there's a new one in her place. With such a drastic management change, I'm wondering if they no longer deserve that status based on how poorly my experience has been going.
I always tell people to switch to another provider if they aren’t satisfied.
We switched providers too but it was about staffing.
A nurse that mom loved told us that she was going to work with another provider. She knew how attached mom was to her and she had grown very close to my mom. So, she let us know the name of the new provider so that we could switch to them and keep her as mom’s nurse for the remainder of her life.
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(BTW my also mom did very well on mirtazapine)
Funny, not a single nurse in this new agency thinks he has been acutely "transitioning" yet. Yes, he is 91 and winding down and will of course not live forever but he's not actively dying every. single. day. Good grief.
It's a built-in that the people who go into hospice care are close to death. Unless the patient leaves hospice for some reason, they'll die under their care. I can't imagine why hospice would need to get their death numbers up when it's going to happen anyway.
The bottom line is that a hospice organization is part of your family's caregiving team, and if they aren't receptive to the "coach," then they're off the team. Any organization that doesn't understand who they work for needs to go, and it's very easy to switch hospices.