To the editor:
Hospice of Aroostook has been working collaboratively with the Aroostook House of Comfort Foundation and it is with great excitement I look forward to this winter’s opening of the House of Comfort.
As the medical director of Hospice of Aroostook, part of VNA Home Health Hospice, I would briefly like to discuss the services we offer. Currently we offer full hospice services to patients in their homes, in nursing homes (who are not part of medicare or private insurance skilled care), in assisted living facilities, and in boarding homes. We strive to help hospice patients and families to live each day comfortably and independently at home or in institutions. We admit patients to hospitals for pain and symptom management that can’t be managed at home. They are discharged home within a day of their symptom control. When the primary care provider at home needs a rest or has an obligation that briefly pulls them away, we can also admit our hospice patient to the hospital or nursing home for five days for respite.
The House of Comfort is owned by the Aroostook House of Comfort Foundation, but will be run/managed by Hospice of Aroostook. This hospice house, as the others in the state, will offer admissions for pain and symptom management, and for respite care, for hospice patients in Aroostook County. This will allow hospice patients to avoid hospitals during their care and have a supportive home environment for these admissions. We are unable to offer long-term stays throughout a patient’s end-of-life illness due to Medicare and other insurance rules of coverage.
Our hospice team at VNA is very excited about managing the House of Comfort and looks forward to working with Aroostook House of Comfort Foundation, the owner of the building, in providing Aroostook hospice patients care in a warm, family centered setting.
David Jones MD, FAAFP
Medical Director of Hospice of Aroostook
Presque Isle
