Q: What do you do for the patient’s family after he or she dies?

A: Hospice care is unique in that all Medicare-certified providers are required to offer bereavement services to a patient’s loved ones for a year or more after the patient dies. At VITAS, bereavement care is actually written into each patient’s plan of care, and should begin with support for the family even before the patient’s death. This is an important benefit not available to terminally ill patients who reach the end of life in the harsh environment of a hospital intensive care unit.

How successful is our bereavement care? Many of our most remarkable hospice volunteers have joined us to “give back” after they experienced hospice bereavement care following the death of their loved ones. In many cases and in many ways, the relationship with our hospice teams continues.

Q: Isn’t it difficult to “let go” of patients and families after you get to know them?

A: Our staff finds comfort by participating in memorial services and providing bereavement support for the families of patients they have served. They also reflect on the memories they share with each other of the meaningful gift they gave to these special patients at the end of their lives.