What is Hospice Care?

Hospice is a special plan of care focused on the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of terminally ill patients and their families. Hospice care treats the person rather than the disease; it focuses on quality rather than length of life. Patient and family members are involved in making decisions with a team of compassionate professionals.

Who can be admitted to hospice and what does the process involve?

Cedar Valley Hospice services are for people with a life threatening illness with and a life expectancy estimated at six months or less. Both the doctor and patient agree to the need for care that provides comfort when curative treatment of the disease is not an option.

Should I wait for our physician to suggest hospice?

Anyone can make the call to Cedar Valley Hospice for services, including the patient, family, clergy, friends, or health care provider. If the patient’s physician has not made the referral to Cedar Valley Hospice, the staff will contact the physician for permission to admit them to the hospice program.

What geographic locations does Cedar Valley Hospice cover?

Cedar Valley Hospice provides care in Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Grundy, Tama, parts of Benton, Chickasaw, Delaware, Fayette, Hardin, Linn, and Marshall counties.

Are all hospices the same?

No. Although all hospices specialize in the care of life threatening illnesses, the array of services can differ widely among hospice providers. Cedar Valley Hospice is an independent, non-profit, community health care provider. We are the only hospice in the area with a hospice home.

How much does hospice care cost and is it covered by insurance?

Cedar Valley Hospice care is available to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance companies cover the costs of hospice services. Community contributions and a sliding fee scale for some programs of Cedar Valley Hospice cover costs for those who can’t pay.

What happens if we need help between visits from the hospice team?

Cedar Valley Hospice staff members are available 24 hours a day for patient or family concerns that may arise. A nurse, social worker and chaplain are always on-call.

Is hospice care only for cancer patients?

Cedar Valley Hospice accepts patients regardless of their diagnosis. Care is appropriate for anyone in the advanced stages of a life-threatening illness, with a prognosis of six months or less. This includes, but is not limited to heart disease, cancer, ALS, Alzheimer’s, AIDS, neurological and renal diseases, chronic lung disease and other end-stage organ diseases.