VNA & HOSPICE OF THE SOUTHWEST REGION, INC.

C

CJ G

This review is not about the actual hospice nurses who have come to take care of my father as they seem very nice, caring, competent, and my father likes them. This review is about my personal experience as a family member dealing with Hospice. It has been a great sadness that Hospice has shut me out of my father's dying process. I've read that Hospice is there for the whole family, but if two siblings have different views on their parents' care, Hospice will just refuse to allow the sibling who is not the health care power of attorney to be part of their parent's death, at least that is what has happened in my case. My father wanted Hospice volunteers to come visit him but Hospice would not take action on this when I told them that. I know my father would want Hospice to communicate with me as well as other family members, but even when the top clinical person in Rutland heard my concerns and promised to call me back after having a team meeting with my father's Hospice team, she never called me back. I followed up and left messages, but there was still no call back. And when I emailed the CEO who oversees Rutland Hospice and cc'ed the same clinical supervisor with my concerns and requested a meeting with Hospice, no one bothered to email or call me back. When I told Hospice I had concerns about dehydration with my father since he was not being provided drinks within his reach throughout the day, even this did not warrant a call back by the clinical supervisor. Hospice seems to care less what the patient wants, instead deferring completely to the sibling who is the caregiver, even when it means completely shutting out another family member. Since I live far away from my father, Hospice would be my only means of getting news about my father's condition since my sibling doesn't share information. I expect I will just get an email that my father is dead at some point. Who would have thought that Hospice would ghost a family member who is trying so hard to help and be part of their parent's dying process. But that's what's happened. Very sad.

I

ian dennis

If I could give a zero star I would . Horrible care.This picture won't mean anything to most, but to me it is a reminder.... And I feel compelled to share.... Company's mission statement:Our Mission: To enhance the quality of life of all we serve through comprehensive home and community health services. The nurse that left it sitting on my bathroom sink , ( I found it the next morning from my moms passing) this is the same nurse that couldn't be reached May 26th (she was on call) so my mom struggled to breathe for two hours, before I got direction on how to help my mom from an out state network nurse after I got hung up on by the answering service at 12 am (she said I was being aggressive ) but watching someone struggle to breathe for two hours was okay? (Hence why I am blaming my self) This is the same nurse that told me that my mom wouldn't have enough medication to get through the night on May 27th because the pharmacy was closed, (memorial day ), she advised me to only give her a higher dose if needed, so people have to suffer when their on hospice because it was a holiday and pharmacy's are closed? this is the same nurse that called my brother by the wrong name when she came to pronounce my moms death to the time she left, this is the same nurse that put a pull up underneath my mom even though I voiced that my mom would beside her self if she had one of those on,(her response: people leak bodily fluids when their moved) this is the same nurse that asked my brother to help carry out the Gurney because the older gentleman (undertaker) was struggling, this was the same nurse that called the wrong funeral home and my mom was taken out by the funeral home the nurse decided to call, this is the same nurse that argued with me about what funeral home I had told her, this is the same nurse that refused to leave my house when I asked nicely the first time, this is the same nurse that watched me scream and yell at her to leave my house, but yet she still refused, my brother had to escort her out my house. the same very nurse had the audacity to cry on my front porch and watch me leave to look for my dead mother after 11 o'clock at night. This is the same nurse that is out helping other families in the same situation as I was.The company says they offer bereavement care for a year after patient passes.... they state that they make this transition easy for the patient and the family.... hmmmm where? We have received none.... the pastor reached out once to hear my side of events that occurred and told me: I was bargaining for more time, this was me grieving (I had asked if she didn't have to struggle for two hours to breathe would she had more time? Or did it make death come sooner? he also told me yes things should been done different but he couldn't throw his coworkers under the bus. The social worker (from same company)my mom worked with for the last ten months and professed she care for my mom so much and it was much more then a working relationship, never even reached out to me, answer my phone call once and when I asked her about paper work for my moms belongings, she told me I would have to go through probate court because paperwork was never done, she said because my mom declined so quickly.... although my mom was up walking on Friday, Saturday just a couple days before she passed, but 10 months wasn't enough time to do paper work? Little did I know while my mom was dying there should been a nurse at my house, (there wasn't) there should been a nurse there when my mom was struggling to breath, (there wasn't) when her regular nurse said she was transitioning, she should have daily nurse visits.( there wasn't) I thought I felt heard when I spoke to the clinical manager at the company and she openly admitted to failing my moms care and the negligence there was, she asked if she could call me the next day, that was may 30th, I haven't heard a word since.... if losing your mother/best friend wasn't hard enough.:.. Think twice before putting your trust in a company that could careless .

A

Alex Ramage

They cut corners with my mom’s hospice care. And she suffered because of it. They gave her cheap medication instead of the proper medication. That Came directly out of the vna nurse’s mouth who came to the house the last weekend of my mom’s life. “ we use to give these patches, but the cream is cheaper so we give the cream now, and only apply the patches if it’s really bad”. Unless you want your loved one to suffer. Stay away, they don’t care about providing hospice service, they care about that insurance money.

C

collin terenzini

I want to publicly thank the staff and the workers from VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region. My step-father was placed on Hospice services about 3 months ago after a long battle with multiple illnesses. The nurses acted along side of the nursing staff at Mtn. View Genesis to give my step father the best comfort care possible. Everything was timely, efficient & done with a great level of compassion. These nurses took the time to speak to my brother and I about what they were seeing. They were there with any questions and helped us navigate through a low point in life. The night that my stepfather died the nurse that was on call came; not because she had to but to offer support and comfort to our family. Thank you VNA & Hospice.

M

Marc Miele

The staff at VNAHSR was extremely helpful with getting my father back on track. He had several health complications and needed to recuperate at my house. The admission nurse discovered right away that he had some prescriptions that were interacting badly with each other. They got him set up for PT, OT and a dietitian. They showed up when they said they would, were compassionate, made him work hard, and were a great support to me. Within the matter of six weeks he was able to walk steadily again, return home and can now use the skills he learned from VNAHSR to continue improving the quality of his life. Thank you to Beth, Ann, Dustin, Nancy and Jeff.