For those facing life-limiting illnesses in El Paso, Pueblo and Fremont Counties, CenterCare Hospice provides compassionate care and support for a transition marked by dignity and meaning. When people hear the word “hospice,” they often associate it with death. But hospice is really about embracing each day, sharing time with family and loved ones, and easing through a natural stage of life.
It’s important to know that hospice care is a choice – a choice that leads to enhanced living for patients and families facing end-of-life challenges. Our hospice services and caregivers emphasize comfort measures and counseling to deliver physical, emotional, and spiritual support for everyone involved.
Many people are surprised to learn hospice is for weeks and months of care, not just for the last days of life. That time often begins when a physician expects a patient to live six months or less if their illness or disease runs its normal course. You may know us as Frontier Hospice. We are now also known as CenterCare Hospice, one of the many services provided by CenterCare. Yet we’re still the same great provider with the same great team – with the same heart, commitment and expertise that built our reputation in the communities we’ve served since 2004.
We start by listening, finding out what’s most important to you, then connecting you with the right care. After learning your needs and goals, we assign a personal team of experts to provide special care and support through a combination of the following services that are just right for you:
Preventing or managing pain and other symptoms.
When pain, trouble breathing, anxiety or other bothersome symptoms of an illness reduce comfort and quality of life for you or a loved one, CenterCare Hospice can ease suffering and improve quality of life for both the patient and caregiver. The goal is to keep patients as comfortable and active as possible. Our board certified physicians work closely with your doctors to manage care in a way that is right for you. Our nurses keep you comfortable and treat symptoms including nausea, restlessness, and others. Assistance with your everyday activities
Assistance with everyday activities.
Serious illness often causes physical limitations, making routine activities difficult tasks for you or your loved one. Our certified nursing assistants can help you perform these activities or do them for you, depending on your condition and situation:
● Personal care, including bathing, dressing and grooming
● Meal preparation
● Assistance with eating
● Light housekeeping/laundry
● Changing bed linens
● Transportation service
● Shopping or errands
● Help with activities of daily living
Emotional and spiritual support
Expert support for emotional and spiritual peace.
When you cope with a serious illness, a host of emotions can arise – anger, fear, depression, grief, guilt and other feelings. You don’t have to face these challenges alone. Our expert team can provide counseling and connect families to other resources in their community, such as disease-specific support groups. You also may find support through Care & Share, our online community of patients and caregivers. To help you cope with spiritual issues and questions, our team also features chaplains who are skilled at helping you connect with your beliefs to find meaning, comfort and peace, regardless of what faith you practice.
Managing medicines and equipment to keep pace with changing needs.
As a serious illness or disease progresses, your needs for treatment and medical equipment can change, sometimes quickly. For instance, the type, dosage and frequency of medications may be adjusted at any time by your physicians. With our strong pharmacy partnerships, CenterCare Hospice can respond quickly and may deliver new prescriptions and refills right to the patient’s bedside. Our nurses also can monitor and manage prescription schedules to make sure patients are taking the right medications at the right time. Likewise, needs for medical equipment often change during the course of an illness. A patient may go from using a cane to a walker to a wheelchair. Needs may arise for a hospital bed, bedside commode or a shower chair. CenterCare Hospice has the connections to get the right equipment delivered and set up wherever the patient calls home.
Take a break from hospice caregiving with respite care.
Caregivers need a break now and then. If your loved one is on hospice, our trained volunteers can stay with them while you take time to relax and refresh, or tend to other duties away from home. Need a longer break for an out-of-town trip or other reason? Respite care may be available in one of our Hospice Care Centers. Contact CenterCare Hospice to learn more about respite care for your loved one – and how it can help you recharge. 24-hour Caregiver Support.
As a caregiver, you need care, too.
When someone close to us is facing serious illness we begin to define ourselves as caregivers. For many, becoming a caregiver offers connection, honor and the opportunity to express how deeply we care about our loved one. In a very real sense, it is a heroic role.
Taking care of a loved one who is seriously ill often come with new demands and unfamiliar tasks, and most caregivers don’t receive education and training. CenterCare Hospice is here to share our years of experience and insights, as well as our helping hands to build your caregiving skills and confidence. From sharing educational videos and tip sheets, to hands-on teaching, to giving you a break from caregiving duties, our expert team is available to support you in the important role of caregiver.
Hospice patients no longer receive treatments to cure their terminal illness, but instead choose care to improve their comfort and quality of life. Families of patients also benefit from CenterCare Hospice. We train and coach family members as caregivers and provide emotional and spiritual support to help them during their loved one’s illness.
We provide care wherever the patient calls home in El Paso, Pueblo and Fremont County. While this is often a house or apartment, we also provide care at nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospitals.
If a patient’s care needs are too complicated for home care or require a higher level of attention from nurses and other experts, we can provide care at one of our hospice inpatient units at Center at Centennial or Center at Cordera in Colorado Springs or Center at Park West in Pueblo.
Hospice care is typically covered in full by Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance providers. To learn more about CenterCare Hospice, call us at 719-544-5891.
