Hospice and Coronavirus FAQ

Compassus is accepting hospice referrals and continues to visit hospice patients. It’s during these times of change you may need us most. Our staff has special training and necessary personal protective equipment to ensure the safety of patients during this pandemic, even those testing positive for COVID-19. As always, our care team continues to serve patients in their personal homes, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or wherever they call home.

Your health and safety are our highest priorities. We are taking extra safety precautions during every face-to-face visit. These precautions include:

• Daily fever and symptom-free certification by all visiting staff
• Implement droplet precautions when caring for patients with a respiratory infection
• Use of personal protective gloves with all patients
• Additional hand hygiene before and after visiting the facility or home

Virtual hospice care visits enable us to safely connect patients and their families with our doctors, nurses, chaplains, and social workers. If you are unfamiliar with the apps used in telehealth, we will walk you through each step in the process.

The CDC states that those at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 are:

• People 65 and older
• People of any age who have a serious underlying medical condition
• People who live in nursing homes and long-term care facilities

Hospice care has a long and successful history of caring for medically fragile older adults. Hospice nurses have extensive training to prevent infections, manage pain, improve quality of life, and reduce unwanted trips to the emergency room.

Compassus works with individual nursing facilities to safely enter and care for patients. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has published guidelines advising nursing homes that hospice workers may be allowed entry if the hospice staff follows CDC guidelines for transmission-based precautions and uses personal protective equipment properly. Allowing hospice staff in facilities adds an extra layer of support for patients and their families who might not be allowed to visit.

The CDC advises home hospice patients to stay at home except to get medical care. Hospice patients at home should be separated from other people and animals as much as possible. A separate room is ideal. Compassus’ hospice staff can help you with extra safety measures, such as when and how to wear a face covering. The CDC has published specific guidelines for caring for someone sick at home.