Hospice care

Hospice care is available to any patient with a terminal illness whose primary care provider believes they have six months or less to live. The goal of hospice care is symptom control and pain management, or comfort care, during those final months.

The decision to seek hospice care is not an easy one, but we are here to help. At any time, you and your family can speak with our hospice care team about our services. We care for patients with a variety of needs and illnesses, including cancer, heart failure, dementia, other neurological conditions, and more.

Our compassionate team members, like Natasha, are ready for you whenever you are.

Our team visits each patient on a frequency that is decided between the individual and their family. Outside of the scheduled visits, our hospice nurses are on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays.

We offer hospice care wherever you call home. This includes your own residence, inpatient settings, or our residential hospice center. We understand that every person has different needs during their final moments, so we offer five levels of hospice care to ensure you and your family are taken care of.

• Routine hospice care: Regular visits by members of the care team that take place in your home, in an inpatient setting, or another place of residence.
• Continuous hospice care: Support during short periods of crisis (usually instead of hospitalization) when continuous care is needed to manage pain and symptoms. This level of care is provided only as necessary to maintain the terminally ill patient at home.
• Inpatient hospice: Care to help manage pain and symptoms when it is not possible to do so at home anymore. This type of care is available in a nursing facility, hospital or residential hospice center.
• Respite care: Short-term care when the caregiver needs a break from their responsibilities of care. Respite care may be provided on an occasional basis, usually for a three- to five-day period and in any setting.
• Residential hospice care: J.A. Wedum Residential Hospice is a facility designed to be as homelike as possible with personalized care provided 24 hours a day. When providing care at home is no longer possible, residential hospice care is a fitting alternative. Room and board expenses are separate from hospice care and generally paid by patients or their families.

Allina Health Hospice is proud to be a Level 4 participant in the We Honor Veterans program. Our staff understands the unique needs of veterans and are prepared to meet the specific challenges that veterans and their families may face at the end of life.

You and your loved one will have a dedicated hospice care team that will guide and support you. The team will work alongside you and the doctors to create a care plan that meets and honors the needs, goals, values and wishes of you or your loved one. We want our patients to live well, be comfortable and not suffer during their final days.

• Personal care such as bathing, shaving, dressing changes, linen changes and household services by our hospice home health aides.
• Therapies, such as physical, music and massage to help treat symptoms and make the patient more comfortable.
• Companionship and support from our trained hospice volunteers including peer visits. Volunteers visit patients for socialization, provide respite to a caregiver (a break from caregiving responsibilities), do light housework or prepare meals.
• Spiritual care to meet the patient's personal and spiritual points of view, regardless of faith, religion or cultural background. Our chaplains provide support by listening to the patient's life stories and experiences and talking about any spiritual concerns the patient may have. The chaplain also gives guidance and explores the role of spirituality in illness, suffering and healing. Together, the chaplain and the patient's spiritual leader make sure the patient is getting the highest quality of spiritual care.
• Grief counseling for loved ones for 13 months after a patient's passing. Family members will receive additional resources such as booklets and bibliographies, referral lists for local support groups, phone counselors, volunteer grief support visitors and grief counselors to help with their healing process.
• Community resources for patients and their families such as patient counseling, family or caregiver counseling, financial and legal information (such as power of attorney, Family and Medical Leave Act, money management or Social Security application), discharge planning, children's support and patient and family advocacy.

Hospice care is available to anyone and is covered by most insurers, including Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers. Private pay options are also available.

Under federal law, reimbursement for hospice care does not have a time limit and generally is reimbursable under Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance plans. For questions about your coverage, please call our business office at 612-262-1779.