hospice care
Hospice is specialized end-of-life care that provides pain and symptom management to help patients with a terminal diagnosis live their best life possible, for as long as possible. Our team members will care for you, wherever you call home.
Service Areas
We offer Hospice Care in the counties of Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Sonoma; and the cities of American Canyon, Napa, Vallejo, and Yountville.
Hospice Care
Some signs that it may be time to consider Hospice Care are:
- More frequent hospital or emergency room visits
- An unexplained drop in weight
- Spending most of the day laying down
- Shortness of breath while resting
Eligibility and Referral
To be eligible for Hospice Care, a doctor must verify a prognosis of six months or less of life, if the patient’s illness runs its natural course. Unlimited extensions to the initial six-month coverage period are possible, as long as a hospice physician confirms no change in prognosis.
Anyone (patient, family member, physician, or discharge planner) can refer an eligible patient for Hospice Care. Ask your doctor about whether you would benefit from this service.
Patients and families benefit from
early referral
Our patients and their families frequently tell us they wish they had called us earlier, so they could have benefited that much longer from our personalized care. Patients do get the most benefit from hospice support when care begins earlier in their illness.
Visits
During our visits, the care team provides patients with:
- Pain and symptom management
- Medical care, including medical supplies and equipment, and hospice medications
- Counseling about practical issues, including your health care wishes, planning for your financial needs, and tapping benefits or additional support from other agencies
- Help ensuring your physical safety in your living environment
- Personal care, including bathing and dressing when needed
Team members also offer patients and their families
- Education about end-of-life
- Caregiver education and training
- Emotional counseling and grief support
- Interfaith spiritual comfort
In addition to scheduled visits, our nurses are on-call 24/7 to answer questions or make an emergency visit. We can help you find around-the-clock caregiver support or other outside resources, as needed.
comfort and support
Hospice Care Team
Physician/ Nurse Practitioner
Participates in ongoing discussions with your nurse and care team about the best medical care to meet your individual needs.
registered nurse
Visits regularly to assess your general condition and provide pain and symptom management, including the use of medicines.
social worker
Provides practical and emotional support, including access to agency, community, legal, and home care resources.
Home Health aide
Addresses personal care needs, including bathing, skin and oral care, toileting, moving and walking, and changing linens.
Spiritual Support Counselor
Provides comfort through secular counseling, inspirational reading and prayer, and coordinating support with preferred local spiritual group.
Grief Support Counselor
Offers anticipatory grief counseling and follow-up support for family members who have lost their loved one.
Volunteers
Provide companionship, respite care, help with errands or light chores, and transportation to appointments or short outings.
Payment
The Medicare Hospice Benefit covers nearly all expenses relating to Hospice Care.
These include:
- Pain and symptom management
- Medical care, including medical supplies and equipment (DME), and hospice medications
- Counseling about practical issues, including your health care wishes, planning for your financial needs, and tapping benefits or additional support from other agencies
- Help ensuring your physical safety in your living environment
- Personal care, including bathing and dressing when needed
Our policy is that no hospice-eligible patient is ever turned away for inability to pay.
No. Our Hospice Care team helps all family members and caregivers cope emotionally during this difficult time, while providing the education they may need to best care for the patient. By The Bay Health also offers grief counseling support before and after a loved one’s death.
No. Patients may receive care once their physician and the hospice physician determine that their illness is terminal, with an estimated life expectancy of six months or less. Medicare allows hospice to provide care for terminally ill patients, as long as certain medical eligibility criteria continue to be met, and the patient still wishes to receive hospice care.
Yes. By the Bay Health establishes working relationships with a large base of referring physicians so that patients can keep their own doctors even after admission to Hospice Care.