Hospice Austin

This is not the fun part of life, the dying part. I used to have a large extended family. After watching multiple beloved older relatives suffer through debilitating illnesses and eventually die, I decided that if I ever had a say in the matter, I’d try to find a gentler, more supportive route than they had to face. And that hasn’t ever been a pain-​free decision to make, either, speaking from experience.
But of the various Hospices I’ve dealt with, this one has been the best. They’ve been invaluable to have on board and have provided guidance and support for my loved ones and for our family as needed. Sometimes, that process has dragged out over a year, and they’ve been there.
They stand out from other local providers because they are not-​for-​profit, which allows them to offer support for patients who don’t have insurance and who don’t qualify to have Medicare pay their services. So there is no cost to the patient receiving services, or to their families. If you’ve never used Hospice, know that your insurance usually covers the cost, and the care focuses on pain relief, comfort, and emotional and physical support to allow for dying naturally and as peacefully as possible, without being hooked up to life support or having other invasive measures intended to extend life. You have to sign legal papers indicating that you want this approach, or the law requires medical personnel to try to resuscitate you, no matter how needless or hopeless that may seem at the time. Ask a lot of questions.
Some of the nurses and caregivers I’ve dealt with have been spectacular, and some have just been good, but none have been bad. They all seem to have kind hearts. There is some turnover and shuffling of caseloads, so if you’re with them over a longer period of time, you may see some different social workers or caregivers or clergy. If they already come to the facility where your loved one resides, they will be there to help out more often, just FYI.
They do have a residence for the very end of life acute care, when the patient needs 24-​hour attention and it makes sense to move them. That’s Christopher House. I haven’t used it yet. So far, they’ve come to various retirement communities and to the hospital for us, when bad things happened quickly and we realized our loved one wasn’t leaving there alive. That was unexpected, and it sucked, and frankly we didn’t receive the full-​on Hospice support experience we’d experienced in other circumstances. They will defer to hospital personnel, unlike when your loved one is at home or in a retirement community. Again, ask a lot of questions.
If you aren’t sure you’re ready to change the treatment focus or what that will look like, they will have a nurse come out and sit with you, talk with the patient and medical personnel, look at records, and answer questions so you can think it over. They will help you get paperwork you need. They will find social services and medical equipment and medical support you may need.
A Hospice clergy person comes with the support team, and they’re also available to preside over funeral and memorial services. They offer grief support and general support after your loved one passes on, including special support for any children involved. And believe me, we can use all the support we can get, because it’s never easy to say goodbye to someone we love.

My father has been on service with Hospice Austin for a month now, and they’ve been wonderful. After the first call (which we needed service quickly because he was being released from the hospital shortly after), they immediately got everything in place, and within one hour of the first call they were able to get him on service. Since he’s been home they have been responsive to our needs and questions. Their staff is always knowledgeable and friendly, and I am relieved to know that my father is in good care.

I so desperately wanted to love Hospice Austin. They made it difficult, if not impossible to do so. Without writing a very long post (which it would take to explain everything) I will say that we experienced difficulty at every level: with administration, with nurses, doctors, and finally at Christopher House, where our mom died. A few months later we met with the Executive Director and two of her staff members to tell them of our ordeal. They compassionately listened and sent us a letter of deep apology, but none of that will change the fact that our mother’s death was much more traumatic and painful for her than it had to be. We will have to live with that memory forever. I’m now looking at hospice care for my father, and while I’m aware that no place is perfect, I wouldn’t dream of using Hospice Austin again.

Our family was very pleased with the services that Hospice Austin provided my mother. We called them to help with end-​of-​life care. They made regular visits to the assisted living place where she lived. She passed away at 92 years old and we are grateful of the help they provided us.

I was 21 when Hospice Austin came to my mothers aid. All the staff, from the people who’s voices you only hear on phones to the actual nurses that visit your home, are nothing shy of angels! I can’t rave enough about this organization and their mission to help those at the end of life. They couldn’t have given us anymore love, attention, and care for a mother and daughter during our last moments together!

Hospice Austin is an amazing organization that covers your every need at the most difficult time in your life. Compassionate doctors, nurses, aides, a bereavement department that stays with you through an entire year of first and then a little more. Social workers who offer support when you don’t even know the right questions to ask and volunteers to help, to visit, to listen. It was so comforting and reassuring that there was always someone to take care of my husband’s every need, and assure, support and comfort me. As long as I live, I will never be able to repay Hospice Austin for ALL they did for my husband, and for me, at the end of his life.