Hospice

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.

(763) 581-9398

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What is hospice care?

Hospice is specialized medical care focused on comfort, dignity and quality of life for individuals facing a life-limiting illness. We believe that every person deserves compassionate, expert care at end of life. Our dedicated, highly skilled team surrounds you and your loved ones with support, ensuring that no one walks this journey alone.

Hospice consultation

We provide a free consultation for you and your loved ones to learn about our care and how it can serve you.

Upon receiving your request, a care transitions coordinator will contact you within 1-2 days.

For immediate requests, please call 763-581-9398.

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Frequently asked questions

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.

Medicare: Medicare Hospice Benefit covers 100% of hospice services, including associated medications, equipment and support services related to the patient’s terminal diagnosis.

Private Insurance: Many private insurers cover hospice services fully or with minimal out-of-pocket costs.

Charitable Care: For those who qualify, financial assistance for hospice services may be available.

If you have any additional questions, please call to speak with a member of our team.

(763) 581-9398

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 team.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

If you would like to learn more about our care team, please call to speak with a member of our team.

(763) 581-9398

“The staff we worked with was truly incredible. You can tell they love what they do. Everyone was so kind.”