Hospice
Hospice: Living Life On Your Terms
North Memorial Health Hospice is committed to the customized hospice care you need, wherever you call home. With registered nurses available for home visits 24/7, we are dedicated to empowering you to choose care that matches your goals, beliefs, and values, so that you may live with dignity.
Request a consultation or call 763-581-9398 for more information about our Hospice Program.
The North Memorial Health Advantage
- Because we’ve provided more than 35 years of hospice care, we know that choosing hospice is not about giving up on life. It’s about living life on your terms.
- Our comprehensive end-of-life care is tailored to your specific needs and wants. We support you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We also help with relationships, supplies, medication, and caregiver education.
- Your care could include spiritual or grief counseling, social services, health aides, and integrative therapies such as music therapy, animal-assisted therapy, or energy healing.
- We offer grief support groups, classes, and memorial services throughout the year via North Memorial Health Grief & Loss Support.
- Our hospice program ranks above national benchmarks related to overall care and willingness to recommend our care to others.
Frequently Asked Questions
Hospice care is for someone who has a life-limiting illness and is no longer seeking aggressive treatment.
Your doctor can place a referral when they believe that life expectancy is six months or less. Hospice care is paid for by Medicare, Medicaid and most insurances.
In addition to caring for you, the hospice team provides care and support to your loved ones and family members.
Hospice is also:
- A philosophy of care that provides support to individuals who are experiencing a non-curable, life-limiting illness.
- A type of care that focuses on helping people feel better.
- A team of caregivers who work together to support people in having the best quality of life possible.
The hospice philosophy provides care to the whole person. This whole person approach recognizes that the human experience is physical, emotional, spiritual, and rooted in relationships.
North Memorial Health Hospice strives to enhance quality of life by:
- Focusing on your goals and values.
- Providing care wherever you call home.
- Managing physical comfort.
- Offering emotional, spiritual and relationship support.
- Educating on topics like illness, dying and death.
- Providing caregiver training on how they can better care for you.
- Planning and preparing for future care needs.
- Ordering needed medical equipment and medications.
Routine home care is the most common and frequent type of hospice care. Hospice team members support you, your family and your caregiver(s), in your residence. Your residence may be a private home, assisted living facility or nursing home. Many people on hospice will only need routine home care.
Respite care is a short-term break for your caregiver. Caregivers are eligible for a break from caregiving responsibilities in your private residence for up to five days while you stay at a care facility. If this is of interest or needed, please talk with your RN case manager or social worker. When caregivers are requiring frequent respite, it may indicate additional care services are needed (such as residential hospice, nursing home or private duty home care).
General inpatient care (GIP) is short-term care used if your care team determines your symptoms (like pain or agitation) cannot be managed in any other setting. We coordinate care with North – Robbinsdale Hospital or a residential hospice to ensure that severe symptoms are addressed.
Continuous home care is short-term care used to manage extreme pain or symptoms by providing in-home support for 8 to 24 hours a day. Continuous home care services are predominately provided by nurses, supplemented by your caregiver(s) and hospice aides.
Hospice Consultation
We provide a free consultation for you and your loved ones to learn about our care and how it can serve you.
Request a Consultation
We will contact you within 1-2 business days of receiving your request. For immediate requests, call 763-581-9398.
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Hospice Care Team Roles
A care team will be assigned to you. We strive to earn your trust and for you to know and feel comfortable with your care team.
Hospice Medical Director
The hospice medical director is specifically trained in end-of-life care. They communicate frequently with the hospice team and oversee your care. The hospice medical director works with the primary physician and RN case manager to ensure medical care is individualized for your needs. The primary physician and hospice medical director determine your initial and on-going hospice eligibility.
Physician and Nurses
Primary Physician (PCP)
Your primary physician (PCP) stays involved throughout your time on hospice. With your primary physician, the hospice medical director and RN case manager will collaborate and coordinate care.
Hospice Nurse Practitioner (NP)
The hospice nurse practitioner (NP) works with the medical director and RN case manager to oversee your hospice care. The NP is available for visits to help manage severe symptoms. After the first six months in hospice and every two months following, the NP (or medical director) will visit you in person to confirm hospice eligibility.
Registered Nurse (RN) Case Manager
The registered nurse (RN) case manager is usually the most frequent visitor you see each week. They oversee coordination of care among all members of your care team. The nurse’s responsibilities include:
- Managing admissions, visits and are on call
- Managing symptoms such as pain, nausea, shortness of breath
- Assessing care needs and comfort
- Determining a plan of care for your home health aide
- Coordinating care with your primary physician
- Ordering medications and equipment needed for comfort and safety
- Providing education on the progression of illness
- Providing caregiver training including feeding, transferring, repositioning in bed, toileting, etc.
Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
The licensed practical nurse (LPN) assists the RN case manager and care team to provide nursing care through home visits.
Hospice Call Team
Our hospice call team answers our phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are available to answer questions, provide support and visit when needed.
Social Worker
The social worker provides support and advocates for you and your
caregiver(s). They bring insight, support and recommendations like:
- Encouraging you, your family and caregivers to discuss ideas, goals and
objectives of care - Guiding end-of-life discussions and advance care planning (ACP)
including completing a health care directive (HCD) - Assisting, supporting and intervening to address fear, anxiety, depression and grief and introducing coping strategies
- Connecting you to community resources including meal and housing assistance
- Helping answer questions regarding topics like financial assistance, social security, insurance, Medicare and Medical Assistance (MA)
- Supporting you in funeral planning and arrangements
Spiritual Counselor
The spiritual counselor offers emotional and spiritual support to you, your family and caregivers. Spiritual counselors are interfaith; their job is to support you in your beliefs. Spiritual counselors are skilled at:
- Working with people of all faith traditions and people with no faith tradition
- Helping guide end-of-life conversations, supporting you through challenges and exploring opportunities to find meaning
- Encouraging sharing of personal stories about religious trauma
- Facilitating connection with faith communities and arranging for desired
rituals like communion and anointment - Providing support from an inclusive, interfaith viewpoint that helps people find meaning, comfort and hope no matter the religion or beliefs
- Assisting in planning a memorial service or celebration of life
- Helping bring you greater inner peace
A spiritual counselor will call you to introduce themselves and gauge your interest in their support.
Hospice Home Health Aide
The hospice home health aide helps with bathing, dressing and other personal cares. They can assist with light homemaking tasks such as laundry, changing bedding and light house cleaning.
Pharmacist
The pharmacist reviews all prescription medications, attends weekly care team meetings and provides guidance for medication management. They review interactions between medications and advise on best practices for treatment of distressing symptoms.
I hold you in great esteem for all that you did for my father and family.
We cannot express the gratitude we have for the love and care you gave to our mother.
Thank you to each and every person for your compassionate care.
Care Team
Our highly trained experts empower you with the knowledge and the support you need to get the healthcare you want.
Jason Kallestad, MD
Joseph J. Sicora, MD
