Hospice of the Piedmont – Charlottesville
The Charlottesville area community is known for its support for local organizations that offer services to those in need and their families.
One such organization, Hospice of the Piedmont (HOP) provides an alternative to strictly hospital care when patients have reached the final stage in the progression of their illnesses. It’s the region’s oldest mission-driven, nonprofit hospice organization.
The 15th Annual Run and Remember was held May 7 this year and was hosted by the Keswick Club, in memory of Sally Carle. Charlottesville Solutions was one of the sponsors this year in memory of one our own agents, Rick Dreher, who was helped by members from the Hospice of the Piedmont last fall.
The organization has been a part of the Central Virginia community (including a 12-county radius around Charlottesville) since 1980 and has, according to its website, worked to help guide “patients and families through this difficult journey with comfort, compassion, and dignity.”
Providing peace of mind
Families think of HOP as a sanctuary from all of the things to think about as their loved one face a terminal illness. Angela Stiltner, MD, HMDC, is the only full-time hospice medical director in our service area. In addition, HOP staff is available 24/7.
HOP has in-patient contracts with UVa, Sentara Martha Jefferson, Novant UVA Culpeper, and Fauquier Hospitals.
In addition, at 501 Park Street, the Newton & Wilma Thomas Hospice House is a historic, turn-of-the-century Victorian home, and one of only two licensed residential hospice facilities in the state of Virginia. Opened in 2004, Hospice House has proved to be an ideal setting for entire families to deal with end-of-life issues for their loved one.
Hospice House provides eight rooms, each with its own private bath, as well as a kitchen and dining facilities, a meditation room, and office space for clinical staff. A cook prepares nutritious meals daily and makes every effort to be responsive to the special needs of patients.
The hospice benefit provided by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance policies covers the cost of basic hospice care. However, the additional costs of room, board, and around-the-clock staffing at Hospice House are not covered by these plans. Families are asked to compensate Hospice of the Piedmont for these expenses, according to ability. A financial specialist is available to work with families to identify their need.
Donations to the Hospice House Endowment, a fund intended to ensure access to Hospice House for any patient regardless of their ability to pay, are gratefully accepted.
HOP also operates the new Center for Acute Hospice Care at 2965 Ivy Road at the Northridge Medical Park. This ten-bed unit, a collaboration with UVA Health System, opened in January 2016. The inpatient unit is designed for qualified patients who need advanced symptom management and aggressive comfort care at the end of life.
Patients at the Center benefit from not only pain management and comfort care, but also the spiritual, social, and emotional support that are hallmarks of hospice care. This cutting-edge facility is staffed with HOP nurses, certified nursing assistants, social workers, chaplains, and volunteers. UVA physicians are on site around-the-clock, if needed.
This new facility is the only one of its kind in our service area, and it’s unrivaled in the U.S. For information about the Center or admissions guidelines, call our main line at 434-817-6900 or toll-free at 1-800-975-5501.
Compassionate care
The HOP care team comes to the family and patient —wherever they are—
whether that’s a nursing home, assisted living facility, retirement community, or hospital.
The on staff social workers all have master’s degrees and the certified chaplains address the psychosocial and spiritual needs of patients and their families at the end of life.
HOP is Medicare and Medicaid-certified, so patients with this benefit have all needs
relative to their primary illness covered with no deductibles or co-payment. Patients who
do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid and have no private insurance coverage may be
eligible for hospice care at reduced or no charge. No one is ever turned away for financial
reasons.
For referrals and information, call 434-817-6900 or 1-800-975-5501.
According to the website, HOP provides “specialized care during a life-limiting illness, combined with a level of compassion often described as ‘a calling.’”
Their misson and vision: “To positively transform the way people view and experience serious illness, dying, and grief, and to achieve a day when no one has to die alone or in pain.
“With a commitment to our diverse neighborhoods, Hospice of the Piedmont promises compassionate, comprehensive, and expert care to meet the unique physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of each dying patient and those who love them.
“The extensive team of physicians, nurses, social workers, home health aides, chaplains and trained volunteers provide unsurpassed physical, emotional and spiritual support not only for seriously ill patients, but for their families.”
HOP has “lived out a pervasive philosophy and unique approach to end-of-life care: that the patient’s choices must be upheld, that no one should die alone or in pain, and that the needs of the entire family must be addressed. Acknowledging that we cannot add days to life, we have dedicated ourselves to ‘adding life to days,’ sharing the journey with our patients and families, enabling them to live fully through all stages of illness and bereavement.”
Piedmont Kids
HOP also has another program designed to help children. Piedmont Kids, a part of the Center for Children, is a free program developed to help meet the needs of children and adolescents facing life-limiting illnesses and their families by providing supportive, non-medical services.
According to the HOP website, Piedmont Kids provides social work, spiritual, volunteer, and bereavement services at no charge to anyone who lives in the city of Charlottesville or in Albemarle, Augusta, Buckingham, Culpeper, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, or Orange counties. Services are provided to the entire family.
Piedmont Kids partners with Continuum Home Healths Pediatric Palliative Care program, which provides any necessary medical services including nursing, medical, therapy and medical support services (pharmacy, DME and supplies). If your child is not already receiving services from Continuum, contact Continuum Home Health at 434-984-2273.
Children who meet the admission criteria are admitted to Piedmont Kids regardless of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, handicap, gender, disability, marital status, communicable disease, religion, or ability to pay. The unit of care consists of your child, you, and your family.
To support the Piedmont Kids program or the Center for Children, please contact John Healy, Director of Advancement, 434-817-6910, or john.healy@hopva.org.
Providing Dignity
Hospice care is widely regarded as the gold standard in pain control and symptom management for those facing a life-limiting illness, and the vast majority of Hospice patients can be cared for at home. The time may come when families find themselves unable to provide the care required for their loved ones to remain at home.
Hospice is grounded in the conviction that everyone is entitled to good care at the end of life, focusing on comfort rather than cure for those who have weeks or months versus years to live. The care that HOP provides is available for anyone in the terminal phase of any illness, including heart disease, lung disease, cancer, AIDS and Alzheimers.
A patient can be considered for hospice care when the physician thinks that their life expectancy is 6 months or less if the disease runs its normal course. The patient, family and physician agree and understand that the focus of Hospice care is on comfort (pain control, symptom management), not cure.
Referrals come most often from hospitals, physicians or family members. However, anyone a family member, friend, or member of the clergy, for example may refer someone to Hospice.
