Volume 16, No. 3, Summer 2008
Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod has announced what it describes as an innovative new “Open Door” policy that allows earlier patient access to its services regardless of treatment they may be receiving.
According to President/CEO David Rehm, “This new policy represents a paradigm shift that allows patients, family members and doctors alike to access the considerable benefits of hospice care long before they might otherwise have considered it.
“One of the greatest challenges all hospices face is the misperception that it is only for the last days or even moments of life,” he explained. “Families struggle with trying to do the right thing…Should we forgo further treatments? Is it too soon? How do we talk about it? Does it mean giving up hope?”
Mr. Rehm says the new policy significantly alters that perception. “To qualify for our care, only two considerations are needed: 1) is the patient's life expectancy six months or less, if the illness follows its normal course? and 2) does the patient want our services? If the answer to both is yes, then we admit the patient as soon as possible. It's that simple. Patients and their physicians do not have to make the decision to stop treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation or infusion before we can serve them. Nor is a do-not-resuscitate order (DNR) required.”
There are standard Medicare regulations that dictate eligibility on a federal level, but every hospice is free to determine its own philosophy of care and establish its own admission policies.
More information about the new policy is available at www.hospicecapecod.org or 508-957-0200.
In another recent development, Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod has received state approval to upgrade the Mary McCarthy Hospice House in Sandwich to become a hospice Inpatient Unit., similar to an Acute Care/Intensive Care Unit.
Once the upgrade is completed and approved, this will be the only such license granted on Cape Cod and only the third in the state. This allows for the provision of a higher level of skilled care to serve more acute patient needs.
The house has been closed temporarily to make necessary renovations to meet licensure requirements. The current residential program, including all patients and staff, has been moved for the duration to Whitehall Estates, an assisted living center in Hyannis. All renovations are expected to be complete by summer, when patients and staff will return to the state-of-the-art, 10-bed, Inpatient Unit.
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Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod has added two new staff members to its marketing/sales team, Patricia A. Parker, R.N., and Karen Rowley. Ms. Rowley comes from 11 years at the Home Infusion Network of the Capeand Islands in Falmouth, where she served in a variety of capacities, including the past two years as CEO. Ms. Parker most recently has been Clinical Liaison/ Marketer at Bayada Nurses, where she was responsible for the Upper Cape region. Previously, she was Clinical Nurse Manager of the Cape Cod Healthcare Wound Center, and Marketing Director at Bourne Manor Extended Care Facility