Giving patients full support when they need it most
Hospice is specialized care for those facing a life-limiting illness or terminal diagnosis.
Our care focuses on the patient’s comfort and quality of life so they can live each day as fully as possible. At Colorado VNA, patients are supported by a compassionate care team that includes doctors, nurses, certified nurse assistants, social workers and therapists.
What Makes Our Hospice Care Special
- Our staff is attentive to what each individual needs and are able to adapt to each situation.
- We are available whenever we’re needed – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
- Our patients direct their care, and we support their personal choices. We coordinate with their physicians to ensure they receive the type of care they desire.
- We offer counseling services to support our patients and their families through the emotional challenges of serious illness, grief and loss.
- We are a mission-driven, nonprofit organization focused on high-quality care for those in our community. We provide hospice care to all in need without regard to their ability to pay.
Hospice Care FAQs
What is hospice?
Hospice cares for patients with terminal illness, generally those who have a prognosis of less than six months if their disease runs its normal course. Hospice focuses on quality of life, comfort care and symptom management. At Colorado VNA we do all that – with an special emphasis on patient-centered care.
Where is hospice?
Colorado VNA believe hospice is not a place, but a patient-centered approach to care. Hospice care is provided wherever the patient lives.
Who pays for hospice?
Hospice care is covered by Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, and all major insurance carriers. As a not-for-profit, mission-driven hospice, Colorado VNA accepts all patients without regard to their ability to pay.
Who is eligible for hospice?
People diagnosed with life-limiting illness – including but not limited to cardiac disease, dementia, cancer, kidney disease, neurological disease or pulmonary disease.
How do I know?
To determine if a loved one might benefit from Colorado VNA care, ask and answer the following questions:
- Does your loved one have uncontrolled pain?
- Does your loved one have increased shortness of breath?
- Does your loved one require assistance with routine daily activities?
- Has there been weight loss, loss of appetite or difficulty swallowing?
- Have there been frequent visits to the hospital (including the Emergency Department) or doctor’s office?
- Has your loved one been falling frequently?
- Has your loved one been getting frequent infections?
- Has your loved one become incontinent?
- Is most of your loved one’s day spent in a chair or bed?
- Have you shifted focus from treatment to comfort care and enhancing quality of life?
- Has the doctor told you or do you believe that the disease progression is nearing its final stages?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, it’s time to call Colorado VNA to learn more about what hospice can do for you and your loved one.
What if the hospice patient’s condition changes for the better?
A hospice admission can be revoked at any time. No decision is permanent. At any time, a patient may decide that hospice care is no longer the best option and return to curative care.
Does hospice manage pain?
Yes, hospice expertise is in pain and symptom management.
