Admissions
Criteria for Admission to Hospice
Six Months or Less to Live
Hospice services are tailored to the needs of patients who have received a terminal diagnosis from their physician, who are no longer seeking a cure for their disease, and who have six months or less to live.
Essentially, hospice replaces medical treatments aimed at curing a patient, with "palliative" treatments aimed at providing the best possible quality of life for a patient.
To be admitted to hospice, you must have a signed order from your personal physician, stating that he or she believes you are hospice-appropriate — which generally means your physician would be surprised if you lived longer than six months.
Hospice of the Gorge works closely with your personal physician and other care providers to transfer your care to us.
If you don't have a personal physician, or if for whatever reason you are uncomfortable talking with your physician about these matters, we will be pleased to have our own staff physician intervene on your behalf.
Types of Conditions
At one time, hospices across the country cared primarily for people with terminal cancer. Because of the medical advances made in treating the many forms of cancer, this is no longer the case.
Today, less than half the people come to hospice because of a cancer diagnosis. More and more people come to us with conditions such as cardio-pulmonary disease and alzheimers, conditions which appear more frequently these days because people are living longer.
Sometimes, physicians prescribe a hospice alternative for people who have been diagnosed with a "failure to thrive"... a condition more commonly known as dying of old age.
We Care For People of All Ages and Backgrounds
While older people are the majority of people who use hospice are elderly, death, sadly, does not come only to elderly people. Hospice of the Gorge has cared for infants, young children, young mothers and fathers ... people of all ages.
We have also cared for people of many religions, people with financial means and people without, and people from many ethnic backgrounds.
Who Pays for Hospice Care
Insurance companies and Medicare pay for the majority of costs associated with hospice care. Hospice of The Gorge relies on charitable contributions to cover costs in those instances where they may not be fully covered by these insurances.
The important thing to keep in mind is that we will not turn a person away if they have no insurance. We have never turned people away for financial reasons, and we have never asked patients to pay for care that exceeds what insurances will cover.
We care, no matter what.
