Hospice House Information
For Every Reason…For Every Family…We’ll be there
Capital Campaign for a Merrimack Valley Hospice House
What is Hospice care?
Hospice care is designed to provide for the medical, emotional and spiritual needs of terminally ill patients and their families as they struggle through the pain of illness and the heartache of loss. Patient studies have shown that individuals facing death due to a terminal illness want to live their lives in comfort, surrounded by the people and things they love. This special form of health care is grounded in an abiding respect for the individual, a compassionate approach to health care and the most advanced pain management and symptom control available today. This exceptional approach focuses on a person’s body, mind and spirit with an understanding that serious illness profoundly impacts the patient’s whole being, as well as family and loved ones. The inclusion of the patient’s family in care giving and the support services provided to family members following the patient’s death, make hospice a unique philosophy in health care.
Why build a Hospice House?
Merrimack Valley Hospice plans to build a Hospice House to meet the needs of terminally ill patients who can no longer remain at home but wish to remain in a home like setting, while receiving comprehensive end of life care. The Hospice House will be available to patients 7 days a week, 24 hours a day therefore provide increased access to hospice care for patients and families when care at home is no longer viable. The Hospice House can also be used temporarily to help patients in need of symptom management or to provide some respite for the family or caregiver. It will be a place with unlimited possibilities to spend one’s last days in a specially created and caring environment.
Who is appropriate for Hospice House residential care?
Most people with terminal illness want to be cared for in the comfort of their own home, surrounded by family and friends. Unlike care in a hospital or nursing home, patients cared for by Merrimack Valley Hospice must have a “primary caregiver”: a spouse, family member, or friend who is available to provide care in the home with support and assistance from the hospice team. But for some people, staying at home just isn’t possible. Examples of patients for whom the house would benefit include; an elderly man too frail to care for his wife, a husband who simply can not leave his job to be a full-time caregiver and/or a mother with young children caring for her dying husband.
Who Pays for Hospice Care at a Hospice House?
Medicare, Medicaid, Managed Care plans and insurance cover the care, medications, and medical equipment provided at the Hospice House. Patients pay privately for room and board. For income eligible patients a sliding fee scale is available. Merrimack Valley Hospice relies on the generosity and support of individuals, corporations and foundations in order to make its services available to all patients. True to our mission, no one will be denied access to the Hospice House due to the inability to pay.
Where will the Hospice House be located?
We are in the process of purchasing a 39 acre parcel of wooded land that is located on the west side of North Avenue in Haverhill, MA opposite the Keyspan storage facility. The House will be built on three to five acres of land and designed to blend in with the scenery, surrounded by trees to create a peaceful and serene atmosphere for patients and their families.
What will the Hospice House look like?
The house's architectural design includes fourteen private bedrooms with space for families along with several common rooms including a chapel, living room, dining areas, library, children’s room, kitchen and garden. It will be a place where family and friends can spend quality time with their loved one at any time, day or night. The entire house will be designed to offer tranquility and a sense of peace during what is a natural but difficult process. Our vision is a home-like environment totally focused on the terminally ill patient and their family and an atmosphere that welcomes family and friends to visit, eat meals with the patient and to be a constant presence with the patient until the end. We will encourage patients to bring their own furniture, artwork and memorabilia to make their rooms more like their own home.
What is the history of Merrimack Valley Hospice?
Merrimack Valley Hospice, the trusted name in end of life care for more than 25 years, is one of the most respected not-for profit hospices in the region. Founded in 1980, Merrimack Valley Hospice provides skilled nursing care, pain control and symptom management, personal care, grief and bereavement counseling and supportive services for patients in the Merrimack Valley and Northeastern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. Our multidisciplinary teams of nurses, therapists, counselors and home health aides combine the latest in clinical skill to deliver care with compassion, commitment and the highest standards of excellence. In addition, specially trained volunteers provide a wide variety of services for the patient and the family; from errands and yard work to companionship and activities.
Operating under Home Health Foundation, the parent organization, and along with Merrimack Valley Hospice’s sister organizations, Home Health VNA and HomeCare, Inc., the agency is able to provide comprehensive home care services to all age groups at any stage of illness. Home Health VNA provides a wide variety of skilled nursing services designed to maximize health, independence and quality of life. Highly trained clinicians combine the latest in clinical skill and technology to deliver care with compassion, commitment and the highest standards of excellence. HomeCare Inc. provides homemaker, personal care and supportive services which enable individuals, elders to newborns, to live safely in their own home and community. Our mission is to create and deliver innovative and responsive community health programs which provide effective and compassionate care.