Hospices offer specialized care and support to people who are suffering from untreatable, terminal illnesses. Doctors and nurses manage pain and discomfort and facilitate comfortable and dignified last days for patients. Plus, they create an environment that supports the patient's family and friends, offering counseling and bereavement services during the entire process. There are around 5,000 hospices in the United States.
Michigan: Angela Hospice Home Care Inc.
This facility has operated for more than two decades and has received positive reviews from various sources, including winning the Governor's Quality Care Award in 2000. An Ethics Advisory Committee of 20 members meets monthly to maintain the ethics of the facility. It offers full time doctors, physician assistants, nurses, aides and social workers and has a 16-bed inpatient facility with private rooms and one nurse aid for every four to five patients in addition to individualized care plans for controlling pain and managing symptoms. The facility also boasts 500 volunteers who do everything from help cook meals to visiting with residents. The facility also offers grief support groups and emotional support for individuals and families.
Angela Hospice Home Care Inc.
14100 Newburgh Road
Livonia, MI 48154-5010
(734) 464-7810
angelahospice.org
California: Zen Hospice Project
The Zen Hospice Project bases its care for the terminally ill on Zen Buddhist practices of cultivating compassion and wisdom through service. It operates two facilities. One is the 25-bed ward at the Laguna Honda Hospital hospice unit, which serves the poor of San Francisco, and the other at the Page Street Guest House. Zen Hospice Project provides residential hospice care, a volunteer program and public education events. This facility is distinctive in that, when asked, it engages residents and their families in being present and focusing on loving-kindness, forgiveness and compassion as the residents lives his final days.
Page Street Guest House
273 Page Street
San Francisco, CA 94102-5616
(415) 863-2910
zenhospice.org
Laguna Honda Hospital
375 Laguna Honda Blvd,
San Francisco, CA 94116-1411
(415) 759-2327
sfdph.org
North Carolina: Liberty Homecare & Hospice Services
This facility takes a team approach in caring for its dying patients, offering them an individualized plan to manage pain and symptoms. The team includes registered and licensed nurses, nursing assistants, medical social workers, chaplains/spiritual care coordinators, bereavement counselors, dietary and pharmacy consultants, physicians and the hospice medical director, along with a plethora of volunteers who support the team in many ways as well as provide direct companionship to those who are dying, their families and friends. The facility offers inpatient and outpatient services and helps 15,000 patients annually. Its focus is on facilitating dignity and helping people have as high a quality of life as possible before they die.
Liberty Homecare & Hospice Services
401 E. 3rd Street
Siler City, NC
(800) 775-4746
libertyhomecare.com
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