Hospice care is a special way of caring for a patient with a terminal illness who no longer receives curative treatment. The hospice philosophy uses a team approach to coordinate care, including the patient, family, nurses, nurses’ aides, social workers, physicians, clergy, and volunteers. Meet the Hospice Team
Our services deliver palliative and comfort care while placing a special emphasis on the patient’s quality of life.
Hospice services include
The KVH Hospice team works closely with Hearts & Hands of Kittitas County (formerly: Hospice Friends) to provide spiritual counseling, volunteer, medical and nutritional supplies, and equipment needs for patients. For more information about Hospice Friends, please visit www.hospice-friends.org.
Meet the Hospice Team
The Hospice Medicare benefit provides a unique and highly skilled team to assist hospice clients and their families on their hospice journey.
It can be overwhelming, at first, to meet so many new people at such a stressful time in your life. Medicare requires the Nurse, Chaplain, and Medical Social Worker to visit the patient within the first five days of starting service.
Nurse Care Manager
Each hospice client and their family is assigned a nurse case manager who will work with you to develop an individualized plan of care and determine the type and frequency of visits by the care team. The nurse will also assist with medication management to ensure any symptoms you have are well controlled. The case manager keeps the Hospice team updated on changes in your condition and plan of care on a weekly basis and more frequently as needed.
Medical Director
The Medical Director provides home visits as necessary, reviews medications to ensure symptoms are managed, and pain is controlled, and attends weekly case review meetings to provide input and be updated on the patient’s progress toward goals. Should a Hospice client need respite or inpatient care during their illness, the Medical Director serves as the admitting and attending physician for hospital care.
Home Health Aide
The Home Health Aide assists with personal care services such as bathing, grooming, dressing, and some simple procedures delegated by the nurse. The Aide checks for and promotes skin integrity and notifies the nurse of any concerns.
The Medical Social Worker works closely with the patient/caregivers and other team members to assist the patient in identifying and utilizing appropriate community services. The social worker will act as a liaison between the family, staff, community institutions, and agencies to meet the needs of the patients. The social worker coordinates the bereavement program for Hospice and provides grief and loss support
to Hospice patients and their caregivers.
Spiritual Care
The goal of hospice is to care for the patient and their family’s bodies, minds, and spirits. The goal of spiritual care is to help the patient and their family through their personal experiences of dealing with illness, loss, and grief. No matter what a person’s beliefs are, hospice spiritual care providers will work to meet them where they are in their hospice journey. Spiritual care and bereavement services are provided to the family for 13 months past the death of a loved one.
Hospice Volunteer
KVH Hospice works with Hearts & Hands of Kittitas County to provide volunteer services to our clients. Volunteers provide a wide range of services, such as staying with a Hospice client while a caregiver runs errands, cleaning, reading stories, playing music, shopping, delivering supplies, etc. Hearts & Hands also provides clients with supplies and have an equipment lending library. Our volunteer coordinator will find a volunteer that matches your needs and interests.
KVH Pharmacists
Our KVH retail pharmacy is open 24/7/365. Our Pharmacists work closely with our Medical Director to determine which medications are most beneficial to utilize for each symptom that a patient might have. The nursing staff, medical director and pharmacists work closely to change medications as needed to keep symptoms under control.
Bellevue Healthcare
KVH contracts with Bellevue Healthcare to provide the durable medical equipment that clients often need. Most often, this is a hospital bed, bedside table, bedside commode, and oxygen. These supplies are covered under the Medicare Hospice benefit and most insurances.
Social Worker