Palliative care helps people with a serious illness manage symptoms, understand their treatment options, and decide what matters most to them. The palliative care team offers education and guidance and helps patients and families set goals and develop a plan of care. It can begin at any stage of a serious illness, including while someone is receiving treatment aimed at curing or slowing it.

Hospice care focuses on comfort and quality of life near the end of life. At Serenity Hospice, an ongoing team provides hands-on care based on each patient’s needs and wishes. Nurses manage symptoms and medications and coordinate with the patient’s physician. Home health aides help with bathing, grooming, and other personal care. We also arrange medical equipment and supplies needed for the hospice care plan, such as a hospital bed or oxygen.

Visit frequency depends on the patient’s needs. Visits may be weekly, several times a week, or daily as needs change. Patients and families can call Serenity Hospice 24/7 for guidance and support between visits.

Under Medicare, a person may qualify for hospice when the hospice physician and the patient’s attending physician, if they have one, certify that the person’s life expectancy is six months or less if the illness follows its usual course. People with advanced dementia, heart disease, lung disease, cancer, or other terminal illnesses may qualify. Eligibility depends on how advanced the illness is and the person’s overall condition.

Serenity Hospice welcomes your call to discuss whether you or your loved one may be eligible. We can answer your questions and arrange an evaluation. An evaluation helps you understand your options and carries no obligation to enroll.

Yes. Hospice care can continue beyond six months as long as the hospice physician confirms that the person still meets eligibility requirements.

Yes. Serenity Hospice provides care in private homes and works with more than 200 communities across the Pennsylvania regions we serve. These include independent living and assisted living communities, personal care homes, and skilled nursing facilities.

If your loved one lives in one of these communities, our hospice team works directly with the staff who already know them to coordinate their care. When short-term inpatient hospice care is needed to manage symptoms, we can arrange it through a participating hospital or other inpatient facility.

Your team creates a care plan based on your needs and wishes. Serenity Hospice physicians and nurses help manage symptoms and medications. Home health aides provide personal care, social workers help with practical and emotional concerns, and chaplains offer spiritual support. Music therapy and volunteer visits for companionship may also be available depending on your needs and location.

The type and frequency of visits depend on the patient’s needs and preferences. We adjust the care plan as those needs change and arrange medications, medical equipment, and supplies related to the plan.

With routine hospice care at home, the team visits based on the care plan, and family members or other caregivers provide day-to-day help between visits. You can call our team 24/7 if symptoms change or you need guidance. During a short-term symptom crisis, more intensive care may be available based on your loved one’s needs.

Yes. Medicare Part A covers hospice care for eligible patients who choose a Medicare-approved hospice. Some costs may still apply. If your loved one lives in a nursing facility or assisted living community, Medicare’s hospice benefit generally excludes regular room and board. Our team can help you understand what’s covered and what costs you may still be responsible for.

Yes. You can choose to stop hospice at any time. If you want to return to hospice later, you can ask for another evaluation and re-enroll if you still qualify.

Our nurses and aides can show you how to help your loved one stay comfortable, explain changes you might notice as the illness progresses, and help you know when to call. If something changes overnight or on a weekend, you can reach our team 24/7.

Our social workers can help you find community resources and talk through practical concerns or difficult decisions. Our chaplains offer spiritual support in keeping with your family’s beliefs and preferences. Short-term inpatient respite care may be available when a caregiver needs a break. After your loved one dies, grief support and resources are available for up to one year.

Patients and families can call us directly at 888-554-5512, any time of day or night. You can start with a conversation, even if you’re unsure about hospice. We’ll listen, answer your questions, and explain what a hospice evaluation would involve.