VITAS Healthcare

As our loved one was near death, Vitas Hospice stepped in and helped us and our loved one pass so peacefully and painlessly. It is a tough job to be the nurse to sit there for 8 hour shifts and watch a person go, we had Yolanda help us through such a terrible time with comfort and kindness. It made the transition easier to bear.

I’m writing while my Dad is still with us. He has congestive heart failure and was complicated with pneumonia just 2 days before closing on the sale of their home and a cross country move. It was just 4 days before my parents were supposed to hop on a flight to their enjoyed retirement place near my family.
My Dad’s pneumonia was complicated when it didn’t get better, required oxygen and still no improvement. It was determined he had Amnioderone toxicity and lungs wouldn’t recover. He was now a resident of another state but couldn’t go home because the hospital said he was too sick. Short story, we paid thousands of dollars to get him home on a medical flight and agreed to hospice since hospitals would not take him with little to no improvement on a transfer. The hospital in the other state took care of arrangements and I had no clue what hospice even was until this sequence of events occurred.
At times I’d like to rate Vitas a 5. We love our case manager Flori but other times I rate a 1 on her days off with lack of communication and response to phone calls taking over 3 hours with their «I will email the supervisor» response. Later hearing what was logged into their «system» from a visit stating my Dad’s catheter was replaced was quite the opposite to the nurse showing up to assist with a catheter that fell out and took it away completely and having no supplies and said another nurse would come later. Twelve hours later another nurse calls and asks the issue then says they have no supplies and wait until morning. My Dad couldn’t empty his bladder on his own and as a heart patient on 3 blood thinners he became distended and bleeding inside. Since then I asked to have him brought to the hospital for the bleeding. Once treated for infection he was home with similar issues and the Vitas nurses kept changing out the catheter jumping from a 16 foley to 18 to 20 all in 3 days. he’s still bleeding and finally took him to a doctor ½ mile across the road despite being told he needed a primary doctor here but wasn’t supposed to leave the home? So we ventured out and got referrals from a new primary care doc for cardiologists, pulmonary speciaist and urologists.
Our case manager is awesome. She disagreed with what transpired. Come to find out she had no idea about bed sores I’d complained about two weeks ago.
I’m not sure if the training isn’t there for some of the nurses or what goes on. During our first 48 hours of continuous care… we waited 23 hours for the first nurse to arrive. He was great. Eight hours later we had another nurse that said to forget all the medications and he wouldn’t need those anymore, just give him morphine. My Dad isn’t in pain. He’s a heart patient. Discontinuing his heart meds would surely NOT increase his quality of life, rather create another V-​tac and a shock to his heart that would be too much for him. I took over his meds and started monitoring every nurse making sure I was at their house almost ²⁴⁄₇. Despite my requests to have Vitas call an hour or so in advance, the best I’ve gotten is either at their door, or a few minutes out. Makes it hard when I am also trying to work to support my family and drop everything to be over at Dad’s house when they arrive when I am the one caring for him and making decisions. Besides the instances where care was not appropriate, this is my BIG complaint NEVER knowing when they are coming so that I can be gone for an hour here and there. If they are leaving Hayward, they could call and say that and I’d know 30 – 60 min. not… «I’m at their door». My Dad wants me present for visits and that gives me no chance to drive 15 – 20 min to get there.
Finally, I’m peeved. The fact my Dad wants to improve we get «NO’ on physical therapy and OT. He’s improved greatly from needing 15 L oxygen to 3 – 4 L, lost all muscle and wants PT to get mobile. He’s been bed ridden over a month. We are told they can evaluate but won’t cover that so switching to home health care and losing lots of benefits. Granted, we would love for my Dad not to need lots of these things, but in the transition he can’t take more than one or two steps, hasn’t even seen the rest of his apartment but can’t get coverage for bed, commode etc on home health care. I realize hospice is «end of life care» We were told by everyone that walked through the door for several days straight until I asked them to stop saying that. It was depressing my Dad who wanted to get better and the rest of us too. While he might have a terminal heart disease, he can still use positive encouragement rather than «when did you give him his morphine last?»
We LOVE our case manager, but total lack of communication and documentation from every other aspect so the lower rating. We wish everyone were as conscientious as Flori! I feel we could have fought for the PT after talking to MediCare, but pretty frustrated with everything that has happened so forking out more money and hoping for better with Home Health Care…

The 5-​star reviews here are baloney — I suspect people are being paid to submit 5-​star reviews for VITAS hospice service by VITAS corporate headquarters in Florida.
One of my brothers is a doctor, and one of my sisters is a nurse: VITAS (local office in Milpitas) is notorious in Silicon Valley for providing sub-​standard care.
If you have a loved one, particularly who has the misfortune to be receiving care at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose (which many years ago was actually a good hospital), by all that is holy, do NOT let Good Sam personnel choose your hospice service: they will choose VITAS, and you will live a nightmare of poor care at a time when you and your family are most vulnerable.
Insist on Hospice of the Valley — they are the only hospice service in Santa Clara Valley that is any good. I know of three families, including mine, that had good service from Hospice of the Valley.
VITAS? VITAS is inexcusably incompetent.
Currently, a family friend is at home, dying.
— The VITAS Registered Nurse assigned to help with his home transition showed up a full hour late, meaning the transport personnel had to wait for her.
— The minute the RN arrived, she immediately wanted to start medicating the patient — but in this case, even the medical transport team personnel knew enough to tell her, «No, that is not appropriate at this time; the patient has to be stabilized, first.» But she’s an RN? Really?
— None of the VITAS personnel wore gloves, washed their hands, or used hand sanitizer the entire time they were on premises. This is not professional healthcare protocol.
— The VITAS team arrived without necessary equipment: they had no stands for several of the devices they brought, including the breathing machine. Doh!
— The VITAS team had no literature to explain to the family how to use the very complicated equipment they were providing, and did not seem entirely competent to explain its use.
— The VITAS team did not have an appropriate breathing mask for the patient to use with the very equipment they themselves brought. How does anyone at VITAS account for this? («You had one job…»)
— Then, the VITAS team tried to leave with breathing mask equipment that was the property of the medical transport company. (I guess because they did not have the right equipment, they thought they’d take someone else’s?)
Communication from VITAS in general has been a mixture of non-​existent, poor, and aggravating.
The only thing I can say positive about VITAS is that the assigned LVN, whose name is Ralph, has allegedly been good, as far as the family reports: he shows up on time and does seem to care.
The rest of the VITAS operation seems mostly a trainwreck, so far.
AND THIS IS HAPPENING AT A FAMILY’S MOST VULNERABLE TIME, WHEN A LOVED ONE IS DYING!
Angry? Sweet Lord Vishnu riding a armored hovercraft with his golf buddies Jesus and Fat Happy Buddha — of *course* I’m angry. I am totally outraged seeing these poor people screwed by corporate incompetence, lack of accountability, and «the banality of [corporate] evil» in action — particularly at this heart-​breaking time.
For you people who work for VITAS corporate in Florida: seriously, how do you sleep at night? Get on the ball! When a tech worker fails, a spreadsheet doesn’t add up or a software release is delayed. When a fast food worker fails, someone’s burger doesn’t have enough pickles, or too many. When *you* guys fail, it has a huge emotional impact on entire families. For the love of all that is holy, get a sense of mission about what you do, and get it together!

Vitas people were very attentive to my 95 yr old mother. Thankfully we didn’t need their help for long, but they were there 24/​7, and very good at keeping us informed. Thank you Vitas.

Three Stars? Are you kidding me? From the delivery man who dropped off hospital bed and all the other equipment, he could not have been nicer. Then you add the head nurse of Steve’s case Julie, and Luz, the in home care giver, and you have a PERFECT mix. So much compassion, advice, help, personal care products and kind words and smiles to Steve and myself each and every time they came to help. God bless Vitas Hospice and their over the top staff. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to Hospice workers. We would have been lost without you.

i’ve had my share of difficulties with vitas however if you don’t fight for what you believe in nothing will be done. ever hear that saying «a closed mouth don’t get feed» my 5 stars go to my 5 top angels who made life so much easier when my beloved mother transitioned to hospice. our lvns, dr & spiritual leader
princess, ofelia, raquel dr. sparrow & chaplan william
i owe them everything! god has truly blessed my family with these 5amazing life lines. i am eternally grateful for all they have done & look at them as our extended family.

My sister was placed in Vitas hospice care on December 15, 2014, 10 days before Christmas. Due to the holidays and our misunderstanding of hospice services, we got off to a rocky beginning. But as the relationship grew, so did our appreciation for the care and kindness we received.
Her case manager /​nurse, Amber, and her nurses aide, Almaz, treated her with kindness and respect. And always showed up with a cheery attitude in the face of sadness and confusion on our part. As my sister’s illness progressed, Amber would come every day and stay for 2 — 3 hours each time. The last five days of her life, Vitas provided us with 24 hour nursing care at home, in addition to our private caregivers. The nurses were professional, kind, considerate, respectful and well trained.
Chaplain Dale Poland, with Vitas, came and prayed with my sister and helped me through a very emotional journey. He also offered to come back and officiate at her memorial service.
I was very happy with the services provided by Vitas and was so glad they were able to make my sister’s final days as comfortable as possible.

This is an abominable organization. Vitas is for profit and it shows. They are out to make a buck at the expense of terminally ill patients and their grieving families. My close friend died in December and Vitas was supposedly taking care of him. Medications and other supplies were promised and never delivered. We needed a walker and waited two days for it. The same nurse never came twice. Delivery people hired by Vitas were disorganized and had no GPS. They kept calling the house for directions while we were at the deathbed. All the employees were untrained and desperate people — not their fault — but it is obvious that Vitas doesn’t care about the patients and hires poor and ill-​equipped people that they don’t have to pay well. Nurses would call my dying friend by the wrong name. When the nurse came to declare the patient deceased, she did not look at the dead man’s spouse or address him in any way. She held the stethoscope to his chest for a long time and then said: «Well, it’s official.» Really? This is what you say to someone whose husband is lying dead on the bed? I have had dealings with other hospice organizations and all have been amazing and supportive. Not this one. Greedy Vitas creates stress for the families already dealing with a difficult situation. Avoid them at all costs.

I normally don’t write reviews but in this case, I felt compelled to so others will know what they’re in for if they’re thinking of enrolling with Vitas Hospice Care.
My mother’s doctor wrote an order for hospice care in May 2012. We were quickly enrolled into their program within 1 day. We were told at the initial meeting that my mother will receive nurse visits at least once a week and doctor visits once a month.
It’s been a little over two years and my mother has been discharged from Vitas because her condition has been so stable there were no way to justify keeping her in the program. I understand and support the decision for my mother’s discharge. My mother has chronic pain and serious conditions but is not terminal.
While my mother was in the program, I had my complaints but wanted to wait until a later date to write a review. Well, the day has come. The turn-​over in their nursing staff is quite remarkable. I’d say in the 2 yrs. my mother was with Vitas, we probably had about a dozen nurses who came to see my mother. With each new nurse, I find myself repeating the same thing over and over again. While they took notes, only two made a point to reference their notes. I would have to repeat the same thing to the same nurses over and over again. Sometimes the nurse would just not show up for the week without calling or would show up around 6 – 7 pm (outside of normal hours) and expect that we should be waiting for her beck and call. There were two exceptional nurses, Alex and Christine, that I give a lot of credit to but the other 10 or so, I can’t really say anything positive about. When I mentioned to one nurse that I had to take Vitamin D supplements because I’m indoors so much caring for my mom, she asked if the Vitamin D was for calcium. I thought to myself, «Did you REALLY just say that?»!!!
As for the monthly doctor visits we were told we’d have, out of 25 months of being in the program, my mother had a total of 6 visits.
My mother was officially discharge 3 days ago and today, there was a FedEx delivery of one of the drugs that she hasn’t used in months. The drug we received today only works with a nebulizer that Vitas picked up 3 days ago because the equipment belongs to them.
Is that a reflection of Vitas’s messed-​up system or what!!!

Glad for the families who benefitted from this hospice, but it makes me wonder if the person in charge of this hospice has any clue about their terrible customer service!!!
The nurse that was taking care of my grandfather was very kind and caring, but she would always talk about how they’re overworked and has gotten yelled at by the director of nursing in front of her coworkers. When she tried talking to her manager about it all her manager said was, «Oh well. That’s how it is here. We get yelled at all the time but don’t tell anybody.» Wow. My aunt called their office once to talk with a nurse because she had a question about the morphine. She said she spoke with 4 different people before they transferred her to a woman named Dawn or Dana (?). She said this person blamed her for not listening to the nurse’s instructions and if the patient is in pain it’s our fault. My aunt said she was rude, disrespectful and cold.
I don’t know if the nurse who took care of my grandfather still works there, but for her sake I hope not. Though it’s not professional for her to tell customers about her issues with work, I understand why.
So listen up Vitas! Work on your customer service skills! Get rid of the sources causing the horrible service and listen to your employees or you will run the risk of losing not only your employees but your business, too. You already lost ours.

I have to agree with the other dissatisfied reviews. I was uncomfortable using a for-​profit organization but the care home my mother was at was already using Vitas. Later I found out that the care home was also having trouble with them and is not going to be using Vitas in the future. Where to start? At our first meeting, we discussed medications and which ones should be slowly withdrawn and which ones to continue. The RN promised me to provide a plan for the medication changes. This never happened. Instead, when I complained to a manager, I was told it was MY responsibility to come up with the medication withdrawal plan! Then I found that the Vitas doctor had removed my mother from a number of medications at once, without ramping down. Was there any negative effect on my mother? Difficult to say when a person is dying, but she did get more agitated and restless. The RN agreed to email me after every visit with an update. This only happened once. I then asked the RN to call and let me know when she would be visiting my mother. Although she agreed, this never happened either. The worst of the experience was on the day my mother passed away. The RN arrived and contacted the doctor for instructions as my mother’s breathing was labored. The nurse went back and forth with the doctor as the medicine wasn’t working. The doctor kept upping the dose. Finally the dose texted by the doctor was not clear to the RN or to me. Was the dosage additional to what had been given or was the dosage the maximum amount? The RN attempted to get a clarification from the MD but the doctor just texted back the same dosage without answering the nurse’s question. This was a very stressful day made much more difficult by Vitas. The RN was fairly new to hospice and didn’t really know how to navigate the bureaucracy in their office. It took many hours for them to call in a prescription and then our family had to leave my mother’s side to pick up the drug as Vitas didn’t have anyone available. Vitas told us that hearing was the last thing to go and that it was important to keep a serene environment during the final days/​hours but they created havoc in my mother’s presence. When the pastor showed up, he had my name wrong. OK, not a big deal. But he then sent a sympathy card using the wrong name. Unbelievable. It was so disrespectful and incompetent. Just another piece of our terrible experience with Vitas. Overall, there was no follow through on promised care, their RNs, LVNs and MDs NEVER showed up on time, never called, and sometimes didn’t even show up on the promised day. It was not acceptable medical care for anyone. I agree that Vitas feels that the people are dying so it isn’t that big of a deal to meet commitments. Vitas did open up an investigation after my mother passed away and I loudly complained. There is nothing I can do to change the situation for my mother, but I can hope to keep other people from having the same horrible experience.

Loved the care I received for my grandfather. He just past away last Friday and the process could not go any smoother.
As a nurse from a hospital, I know what good hospice agencies to use and I highly can recommend this company first hand now.
With any issue (even though I thought I could solve it) they had sent out a nurse within 30mins to 1 hour no matter what time. They were so respectful and so great with my little doggie.
Few names I would like to recognize:
Elvira– wonderful intake
Julie, RN — super case manager. Very insightful, trustworthy, patient and kind (and Catherine her co-​pilot)
Luz– my home health aide. her smile and caring demeanor put my family at ease
My ICC team: Jojo, Ingrid, sheimira, snookie, Mina. Love you guys!
Mark– chaplain. Very knowledgeable and cares at a deep level. Spent so much time with me and helped me release a few pent up demons inside
You all made me feel like a family member and not a nurse as much as I tried to be!

My father was in assisted living and went to the ER four months ago when he was failing. He was dehydrated but when he was released he went to hospice. He just now passed away. I recommend VITAS. My dad was in Aegis of Fremont so they have care, but VITAS managed his care as I expected. Besides nursing they have a chaplain who came to just talk to my father which I appreciated. As the end neared they had people there nearly round the clock and they were with him when he passed. I was very pleased with the entire process. They did an exceptional job keeping me informed by calling my cell. The only reason I do not give 5 stars is that they seemed to cut off his meds a little too much when they started. It took a few weeks but he recovered from his hospital stay rather nicely and I got them to restart his LASIK which provides relief from congestive heart failure (i.e., makes it easier to breathe). All in all I am pleased.

I wish I could rate 0. Worst hospice ever. Stay miles away and make sure none of your lived ones choose vitas.
The doctors randomly cancel medications claiming patient is at end of life so what’s the use. Nurse is supposed to come at 9 am to administer the meds and doesn’t show up until 11 am. Same issue at 9pm, no show. We call at 10 and are told someone will call back. We call again at 10.30 are are told to wait till after midnight when they are free. Their logic — patient is dying so it’s ok if they are late or a no show altogether! The folks that are handling our case are Nannette, Abigail, Ian, Eden. This hospice is a sham. STAY AWAY

It’s hard to understand how divergent these reviews are for Vitas. We found them to be more responsive and proactive than we could have imagined. They took over every aspect of my mother’s care. When I would talk to them and say I was going to do something (like talk with the pharmacy or her assisted living about medication) they said, «we can do that», and it happened immediately and was done right. Their staff was caring and every one we met was a gem. In particular, my mother loved the CNA that came and helped her bathe. The RN, Nova, was always right on top of stuff and very available. The Case Manager Mel was too. Equipment issues were addressed immediately.
I wish I could say the same for the new hospice my mother got when she moved back to her home. I just wish Vitas was available in her town…

Agree with prior review to avoid them completely and go with Hospice of the Valley or another not-​for-​profit Hospice organization. Vitas gives Hospice a bad name. We needed «911» emergency service the other night when my father-​in-​law was coughing up blood and were told they had noone on staff to come. When I called back threatening to cut their Medicare payment– they suddenly came up w/​someone to send (2 hours after our ‘911’ call to them) who barely spoke English, and only stayed for 45 min. and was not helpful at all. Any time commitment they have failed to hit (show up late, deliver equipment hours later etc.). We would have transferred to the not-​for-​profit Hospice of the Valley but we ran out of time.
Vitas feels like a total sham– they take Medical/​Medicaid $ but fail to provide any semblance of proper support or healthcare. They so under staffed the workers are harried.

Horrifying experience. Medications not there or delivered in wrong form. Patient was never bathed. No aides were sent. Pharmacy filled rxs in such a way that it was a money scam. Fillling 6 tablets of whatever when that would only last 2 days, over and over. Drs. were completely unresponsive about errors or follow through with pain meds until the last day of survival. They had no one on site that had any hospice training with the exception of the nurse that came for an hour every other day. No one recognized when to dispense meds as were written on «as needed» basis and no one understood the death process, so no one knew when to dispense medications. They had a contract with a facility and so saw no reason to train anyone apparently. This company is owned by Chemed– which owns Router Rooter, It is for profit. It has a license, but understand that is being challanged currently. It has a very high turnover rate. There is only one accredidation on it’s website and it is obscure. Only 50% of it’s employees would recommend this company (
). When my loved one died, I received 12 phone calls in the middle of the night asking what they should do with the body. REALLY?
This organization is thread-​bare, incompetent, unable or unwilling to provide the comfort care they advocate and I would STRONGLY recommend you not use them for any reason.

Great End of Life care. Please note that they have moved over a year ago to Milpitas! You can Google the new address.

Vitas recently helped my father in his passing, after a major stroke.
I would like to publicly recognize Albert, who was the first hospice nurse to arrive at Silverado in Belmont (where my father was) when we made the decision to place my father under hospice care. I was distraught but knew my father would not want ‘heroic’ measures taken to prolong his life. I was not ready to let him go but made a promise to him about how I would make decisions, being his designated healthcare person. Albert arrived and immediately explained to me what was happening to my father, what would/​could happen next, what I could expect. All in a very patient and compassionate way.
Albert, by now you know that my father passed away before your shift started this last Tuesday. I’m not sure how to find you, but I want the whole world to know how grateful I am for your kindness last Friday when you arrived, and on the other occasions we spoke. You gave my brother and I such a sense of comfort and peace, knowing that you would make sure our father was not in pain or distress. We are deeply grateful for your skill, your perspective on the death process, and your innate kindness.
We wish you the very best, and hope that other families in such difficult moments will receive your unique support.

The parent company also owns Ready Rooter so maybe you can get a package price. Their staff was pretty much Missing In Action during the end of my mother’s life and left most all care to my mother’s caregiver. They supplied a bed, wheelchair, and supplies but since they’re billing Medicare $ 250 each visit and more for the equipment you’d think they’d do some bathing or some other care. They didn’t even bother to phone me when my mother died. The federal government is investigating their practices the last I heard. You may gain peace of mind for the care of your loved one, but it will be false.