What is hospice care?
Hospice care provides medical services, emotional support, and spiritual resources for people who are in the last stages of a terminal illness, such as cancer, pulmonary or cardiac disease, liver or renal failure, or the end stages of Alzheimer’s. Hospice is also for patients who can no longer maintain their weight no matter what their appetite, when there are no curative alternatives, or when the patient does not wish to continue aggressive treatments for their terminal conditions Hospice care also helps family members manage practical details and emotional challenges of caring for a dying loved one. 

Why choose Advanced Care Hospice care?
Advanced Care Hospice is a division of QSTAFF, Incorporated, a very specialized organization that has understood patient care needs in Bay Area communities for many years. QSTAFF is a locally owned and operated family of nurses that, collectively have 75 years of experience. Their hospice team includes Sherry Lemley, M.D., Medical Director; Carmen Kranz Green, RN, BSN, MBA, Administrator and Director of Nurses; Rita Baumann, LCSW and Doris Varner-Bennett, LMSW, Social Workers; Neil Lewis, Chaplain and Bereavement Coordinator; and Lena Gilley, Community Liaison.

This team has extensive experience in comfort care and is available 24 hours a day for emotional support, consultation and emergency visits around the clock. In addition to their core team, Advanced Care Hospice can coordinate volunteers and nurses’ aides if the patient and family desire.

How does hospice care work?
The goal of hospice treatment is to ensure comfort and improve quality of life for those in the final stages of life. This philosophy is a shift from usual medical treatments, in which health professionals strive to cure disease. Hospice services are not intended to speed up or prolong the dying process, but focus instead on relieving pain and other symptoms. Hospice caregivers are concerned with enhancing the quality of remaining life by keeping their patients as alert and comfortable as possible in a familiar environment with family and friends.

Can I have hospice care at home?
Yes, hospice care can be offered in the home. In fact, most patients want to spend their final days surrounded by loved ones in the home that has provided them their most basic comfort. Hospice care can also take place in nursing homes and in-patient hospice units.

Who qualifies to be a hospice patient and who pays?
Hospice patients have many different diagnoses. For most patients, there is no out-of-pocket cost. Hospice is covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. Even if the patient has no insurance, hospice support is still available to them.

When should I choose hospice?
Hospice specializes in caring for the patient and the family in the last six months of life. Once admitted, there is no time limit. The full benefits of hospice can be utilized best when there are months rather than days to establish relationships and support.