When to consider hospice care?

Anytime there is a realistic possibility that your patient will not be alive 6 to 12 months from now, consider contacting Blue Ridge Hospice. We can meet with your patient and the patient’s family to educate them on the services we provide and how hospice care can support them. When you bring us in to assist with caring for your patient, the focus of care shifts towards maximizing your patient’s quality of life when they have a limited time left to live.

Families often state “I wish we knew about hospice sooner”. The sooner we connect with the patient and family, the more time we have to help improve quality of life for both the patient and family, thus allowing them to receive the full benefit of services.

We know that this can be a difficult conversation to have with your patient. You may be concerned that the patient could feel abandoned. After all, a common misconception about hospice care with patients and families is that hospice care equals giving up. But the opportunity is to help the patient and family realize that, when there is no realistic hope for a cure, hospice care should be seen as the best option to maximize quality of life. There are many benefits to utilizing or enrolling into hospice care sooner rather than later; our team at Blue Ridge Hospice is best able to provide that care.

It’s never too early to contact Blue Ridge Hospice.

Our ultimate goal is to allow your patient to have maximum benefit of hospice support that only time can bring.

Brendan Flynn, DO, FAAHPM, HMDC
Chief Medical Officer, Blue Ridge Hospice

Why choose Blue Ridge Hospice for your patient?

The care we provide is second to none.

Hospice is not only what we do — hospice is who we are.

We are wholly dedicated to providing the community with the best possible hospice care and support. We take a holistic approach to end-of-life care and offer a comprehensive array of services to our patients and their families that other hospice providers in the area simply cannot match. For example, we offer our patients and their families music therapy, provided by one of our three certified music therapists as a part of our services.

Did you know that Blue Ridge Hospice is a not-for-profit provider governed by a Board of Directors representing the breadth of our service area? As a not-for-profit, we operate 9 thrift stores across our service area, the profits of which provide supplemental funds that go towards continuously improving and expanding our services and programs. With the financial support of our community, we are able to support a low patient-to-staff ratio that ensures we see our patients more often and for longer duration than other hospices can. Unlike nearly all other hospices operating in the area, Blue Ridge Hospice isn’t interested in returning profits to shareholders — what we care about is fulfilling our community-based mission to deliver the highest quality end-of-life services that everyone in our community deserves.

We can be equal partners in the care for your patient.

Our team is committed to work with you and your patients. We can work with you if you would like to remain your patient’s attending physician — while your patient is under the care of Blue Ridge Hospice, you can continue to see your patient as you normally would and continue to be reimbursed for the care you provide. Our physicians and nurse practitioners are ready to collaborate with you directly. But if you prefer, Blue Ridge Hospice physicians can assume the role as attending physician while your patient is receiving hospice care. It’s your choice.

We are your community hospice.

And we will be by your patient’s side, every step of the way, 24/7.

Blue Ridge Hospice has served the northern Shenandoah Valley and northwestern Virginia for more than 40 years. We live in the community ourselves and we know your patients — they are our neighbors, friends, and family members. The majority of our staff has been with us for many years. You know them, and they know you and your patients.

We offer all four levels of care mandated by the Medicare hospice Conditions of Participation. Depending on your patient’s specific needs, we provide routine home care, respite care, and crisis (or continuous) care, or inpatient care. One of our primary goals is to provide services wherever the patient calls home, but when a patient’s medical condition requires more intensive care, we also have an Inpatient Care Center, an 8-bed homelike unit located in Winchester, Virginia.

We serve the community at large as well. Short-term community grief support services are accessible to anyone within our service area who is struggling with grief and loss — completely free of charge. Anyone coping with the loss of a loved one can take advantage of our grief and bereavement services. Our team of experienced grief counselors is available for individual sessions, community members may join group sessions, and we offer specialized children’s programs.

We work with an interdisciplinary team of professionals.

Every member of our medical staff, including our medical director, is involved in patient care and visits patients in the home. Our team of professionals includes:

• RNs, LPNs
• Certified Nursing Assistants
• Medical Social Workers
• Grief Counselors
• Chaplains
• Music Therapists
• Volunteers

The majority of Blue Ridge Hospice staff hold specific hospice certifications. Blue Ridge Hospice maintains accreditation with The Joint Commission and is a member of the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization, Virginia Association for Hospices & Palliative Care and Virginia Association for Home Care & Hospice.