Talk to county directors across the commonwealth who oversee institutions such as SpiriTrust and…read moreyou may hear, "All of them have problems." Caring for others is a challenge and a hospice staff can make all the difference . . . yet SpiriTrust's operation is uneven at best. Once one of the SpiriTrust's leaders, someone I never met, told the family caretaker he can never leave the patient alone, even if the patient was sound asleep. This executive order is not a county, state or federal mandate, just a standard that the leader warned, if violated, care would cease. A letter to the office asking a series of questions remains unanswered. Calls to the facility are not returned. Are none of the options in Franklin County, Pa., worthwhile? Yes, Grane Hospice Care is an outstanding hospice care provider with talented staffs and loving nurses and others. SpiriTrust has many high-quality people but its rigid rules and a few overbearing employees cripples an organization that could be as good as Grane. In general, SpiriTrust has a solid team; however, it doesn't seem to listen to the family caretaker and isn't listening to the caretaker's heartbeat nearly as important as the routine patient care?

My 91-year-old friend received hospice care in the final weeks of her life. SpiriTrust Hospice…read moreresponded quickly to the referral and their attentive professional care allowed my friend to die comfortably in the place she called "home." Elderly patients qualify to receive hospice care when they have unintentional loss of weight and progressive weakness. With hospice involved, their loved one will avoid hospitalization and their physical, emotional and spiritual needs will be met in their final days. Thank you SpiriTrust Home Care and Hospice!

I can't say anything nice about this company. From the way they are not upfront about hospital…read moretransport rides from hospital being covered to the actual care that is not provided. One day I asked if we could change my mother. I was informed that another person would be out in a few hours to help with that. A few hours. I was also told that me being by my mother's side was," like watching water boil" what an inhumane thing to say about a person passing away. Heartless is more like it. Think 2 or 3 times before using this company

I wish I could say that my father had great care from Heartland Hospice, but that simply was not…read morethe case. My father's only request was that he was free of pain. Unfortunately, he was neither pain-free nor did he have a peaceful passing. It was so traumatic that it haunts my husband. A few suggestions so that no one else needs to suffer needlessly in their final days and hours-- 1) Recognize that pancreatic cancer is one of the most painful deaths, particularly when a tumor involves the celiac plexus, and declines occur quickly. 2) When either pain or agitation medications are not working, change the medications rather than continue to increase the dose of those that are ineffective. Morphine, lorazepam, and haloperidol work for some patients. However, they do not work for others. This should be recognized and addressed immediately. And, if a fentanyl patch is added to those medications that are ineffective, ensure that another medication is administered until the fentanyl takes effect 24+ hours later. Consider hydromorphone, methadone, ketamine, midazolam, diazepam, etc. 3) If such medications are not normally used, consult with nurses, doctors, and pain management specialists regarding the appropriate dosages and circumstances for their use. 4) Ensure orders for medications, especially pain and agitation medications, are submitted to the pharmacy in a timely manner. Patients and families rely on hospice to know how to respond to a rapid, painful decline. Please do not let another patient and his or her family down.

I found out about Grane Hospice by sheer luck as I was sitting in the ICU waiting room at Altoona…read moreHospital. One of the ladies in the room said she used them for her sister and highly recommended them. She advised me against using the hospital's hospice. I called Grane the same day and they informed me of next steps to initiate hospice and agreed to meet me the next morning at the hospital. The next morning before we even met -- I called them and said my dad needed to go home today and that I needed 24 hour nurse aide care in addition to hospice. They pulled out all the stops to make that happen pulling in Home Instead to help with the additional care. Every person from Grane was genuine, caring, and went above and beyond for me. Thanks to them I was able to get my Dad home so he could pass away peacefully. I will never ever forget the care they gave on the worst days of my life. Not being from here I was nervous... I am so thankful to the lady in the waiting room for recommending Grane. Special thanks to Tommi, George, Scott, and Terry. You all are amazing.

A wonderful place for people to volunteer. The people are great to work with there…read more They are moving to a different location but still same great group of people.

My mother was at a nursing home and had to be hospitalized several times…read more Holy Cross and Suburban Hospital in Maryland recommend Montgomery Hospice of Maryland. The level of service they provided for my mother and myself during this difficult time up to her passing IS PRICELESS. Montgomery Hospice made sure that my mother was provided the highest level of care at the nursing home before her passing. I highly recommend Montgomery Hospice for their attentive staff and following up with me in coping with my mother in her remining days at Hospice. If you get Montgomery Hospice ask for nurse HELEN. Helen is a GODSEND..

Jennifer Soumah is a social worker at montgomery hospice. Her husband Al Soumah has stole funds and…read morebeen sued numerous times and Jennifer is aware and hasn't done anything related to these issues. She shouldn't be allowed to be a social worker in hospice when knowingly having her husband steal money for people.

My family started with home health care and moved on to Hospice care…read more Our phone calls were always answered. Our appointments were always kept. By the time we had the Hospice team visiting weekdays I had made two wonderful friends with the team. I can't even imagine our nurses not being there to help us medically and spiritually and emotionally. I miss the nurses and do wish them well in their profession. I highly recommend Residential health care and hospice care. My family and I learned a lot about health care, ourselves and our mother whom we all cared for until she passed. Our many, many questions were always answered, supplies were ordered and delivered to our doorstep, care and concern were highly given and I am at a loss on words to say how thankful we are for their services.

From the owner: Specialized in home care and hospice care.read more

I have been very disappointed with the lack of communication from the professional hospice staff…read more In the over three months since our mother was placed on hospice we have not heard from any medical staff. Dr. Maley talked to us Once briefly shortly after our mothers enrollment in hospice. The social worker and chaplain have called several times. Our mother has had a change in status however we were not notified. Nothing was done to prepare us for her rapid diminishment. Last week she had an episode when she was briefly unresponsive. No one from hospice contacted us. The episode happened while the hospice aide was providing care for our mother. This is very disappointing. When our mother was placed in hospice there was no discussion with us about the possibility of exploring other hospice options. Her primary care doctor is also one of the medical directors of the hospice. We have been appreciative of the hospice aide care. However again there has been no communication from anyone in the medical side of the hospice program. We find this extremely disappointing and unsatisfactory.

From the owner: Enriching Life…read more Heartland Home Health Care offers a full range of traditional home health care services, as well as cardiac and orthopedic rehabilitation, pulmonary disease and diabetes care, I.V. care, physical, occupational and speech therapy and patient and family education. Our goal is to help patients restore their independence and gain control of their lives. We provide care in a way that meets our customer's needs and enriches their lives through what we call the Heartland Experience. We believe wholeheartedly in the power of the individual, the importance of relationships and the value of respect and dignity to everyone at every stage of life. Our goal is to create a positive difference in every patient's day, to make a personal connection and create memorable moments that enrich the lives of each of our patients. Heartland Hospice supports the patient and family wherever they are in their health care journey, and upholds the patient's and family's wishes, goals and values. At Heartland, we help preserve our patients' dignity, show them the respect that they richly deserve and provide compassionate care through our Caring Promises.

The care our family received from the providers at Gentiva Lancaster was nothing short of…read moreextraordinary. The monthly bereavement meetings helped. Keeping Mom at home was our goal. The nurses and LPNs were amazing. We learned how to meet the needs of Mom as we were walked down this path. I cannot more highly recommend Scott Gray. He loved us like a brother. Mom had dementia, but she looked at Scott... I think she sensed JESUS in him. So, saying Thankyou a year later. You shared hope in our difficult struggle. No one should go it alone. Choose Gentiva Hospice ... you won't fall through the cracks ... you'll be supported... we were.

Not their best service. Our family had a very mixed…read moreexperience with Capital Caring Health. On the positive side, many of the nurses were wonderful--kind, gentle, and compassionate. The facility itself is lovely and peaceful, which is important during such a difficult time. However, our overall experience was deeply affected by the behavior of one staff member, Shannon Connors. We are a large family, and after feeling pushed into moving our mother to this facility, we hoped for understanding and compassion. Instead, Shannon Connors was disrespectful and rude toward our mother and toward my siblings who were visiting. Her loud, inconsiderate behavior added unnecessary stress and pain during our mother's final days. Her lack of communication skills and apparent inability to interact sensitively with a grieving family made an already heartbreaking situation much worse. Rather than feeling supported, we felt sadness and anger because of how we were treated. We loved our mother deeply, and those last days should have been handled with care, dignity, and compassion. I sincerely hope no other family has to experience this lack of compassion during such a vulnerable time.

Wonderful facility with great people. My mother is staying here presently with stage IV cancer…read more She continues to express her gratitude for how she's cared for with great care & compassion We couldn't ask for nor want anything more.