One of our families was kind enough to share her experience of having her mother in our care a few years ago. We believe this may be helpful to patients and their families who are considering hospice: 

My mom was a resident at NHC nursing home for 5 years, and I recognized that she was slowly declining. One of the nurses at NHC mentioned hospice care to me which at the time did not sit well with me. The NHC nurses encouraged me to talk with Caris and get more information.  

    “I met with Tim Hopkins, Director of Nursing for the Anderson office, and he explained exactly what hospice/palliative care was. I always thought hospice was just a death sentence, but I was wrong. Tim took his time to explain everything to me. He said, “basically it’s another set of eyes to take care of your mama”.  He let me know that she would continue to get her medication like she was, and that very little would change. 

    Caris cared for Mama for 2 months before she passed. The biggest impact was how caring everyone was. Tim, along with the social worker came to visit mama almost every week. The highlight of mama’s week was when Tim came to check on her. He didn’t just “stop by” he took time and visited with her.  

    Tim and the social worker, Lisa, would call me after each time they were leaving after they visited with mama. They would give me updates and just let me know how she was doing. The weekend mama passed, Tim was not on call, but he made it a point to call and check on me during this time. The nurse who was on call was so kind and compassionate to me, even though she had not been the main nurse on Mama’s case. The morning mama passed, this nurse called and explained everything to me. She also called me a couple of days after the funeral just to check on me. I was also contacted by someone else at Caris monthly for several months to keep check on me after she had passed.  

    My advice for families that are facing hospice care is to not be afraid and to ask lots of questions about what to expect in the coming days.”