To request care: call 1-800-869-2136 or CLICK HERE
When you have a life-limiting illness, Capital Hospice offers compassionate, expert care that helps you to live each day to the fullest.
We want you to be as comfortable and alert as possible, spending precious time with your loved ones in familiar surroundings. That's why our professionals come to you - in private residences, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and hospitals. We've even served patients who were homeless.
Expenses such as medication, medical equipment and visits by the hospice team related to the illness for which you are in hospice care are covered by Medicare Part A. Hospice care also is covered under Medicaid, most private insurance plans, HMOs, and other managed care plans.
However, we provide the same services to people who have no insurance and lack the resources to pay for their care. We can do this because of the loyal support and continuing generosity of the communities we serve.
The shift is from cure to comfort. Capital Hospice patients work with a special team of health professionals with expertise in palliative care - a medical specialty devoted to relieving pain and managing symptoms.
When someone is diagnosed with a life-limiting illness, everyone involved experiences periods of stress, uncertainty, doubt, worry, and confusion. Capital Hospice considers the person who is ill and their loved ones—family members being whomever the patient determines to be his or her family—as a single unit of care.
Besides regularly-scheduled home visits, you can talk any day at any time by telephone to a nurse who is trained to assess unexpected situations, answer your questions and ease your mind. When the situation warrants, a nurse can be dispatched for an emergency visit at any time. We can be reached by phone 24 hours daily, 365 days per year.
Capital Hospice neither prolongs life nor hastens death. We provide personalized services, information and caring professionals to help relieve the fear and anxiety that often accompanies caring for someone at this time of their life..
Recognizing that ignorance promotes fear, Capital Hospice professionals provide the information you need to make informed, thoughtful decisions about your care.
It is always our goal to be sensitive and responsive to the special and unique requirements of each situation. We want you and your loved ones to remain as in charge of your lives as possible.
When someone chooses Capital Hospice care, they get a whole team dedicated to their care. The team includes a physician, nurse, hospice nursing assistant, medical social worker, non-denominational chaplain, grief counselor, dietician, and specially trained patient care volunteer(s). Physical and occupational therapists are utilized if/when needed.
Your primary care physician will continue in that role, or you can select a Capital Hospice physician - it’s up to you. In either case, the doctor must sign off on all treatment orders and plans recommended by the hospice team.
A good coach teaches, supports, and demonstrates. Caring for a loved one at home involves learning many new skills. Capital Hospice team members do a lot of teaching, showing caregivers the things they'll need to know while building their confidence at the same time.
Legal and financial concerns as well as medical issues have to be addressed. These subjects can be scary, and most everyone feels anxious. In addition, many families have unresolved issues that can make communication difficult.
Unfortunately, these patterns tend to intensify during a crisis, increasing feelings of isolation and helplessness.
The Capital Hospice team can help open the lines of communication.
With pain and symptoms under control, you can attend to several issues pressing for your attention:
Life review: time to reflect on and take inventory of your life
Resolving unfinished emotional issues
Saying goodbye
Making financial arrangements
Drawing up a will
Completing an advance medical directive
Spiritual search for meaning in one’s life
You are never “locked in” to Capital Hospice; you can opt out of hospice care at any time without penalty. In fact, when pain and symptoms are managed effectively, many patients show improvement. Sometimes a patient’s condition improves or stabilizes to the extent that he or she can temporarily do without hospice services.
Hospice patients are not necessarily bed-ridden, either. Thanks to expert pain and symptom management, we have patients who are able to fly across country to attend a special family event, to visit a cherished place and to enjoy simple pleasures like a walk in the park.
The grief process begins with the terminal diagnosis, as everyone begins to contemplate the many losses ahead. The Capital Hospice medical social worker helps patient and loved ones to process this “anticipatory grief.”
After death, we offer loved ones help with their loss —support groups, counseling, and education— for 13 months.
