HSHS Services Home Health & Hospice Hospice Programs

Hospice Services

Meeting you where you are.

When you or a loved one is in their last days of life, our compassionate HSHS Home Care team offers hospice care that will bring comfort, peace and dignity wherever they are. Hospice care can be provided at home, in a care facility or hospital. We’ll be right by your side, because when it comes to end of life care, we know there’s comfort in the familiar. 

Our hospice program is state licensed, Medicare certified and Joint Commission accredited.

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What is Hospice Care?

Hospice is a comprehensive program that focuses on quality of life. We recognize dying as part of the normal process of living. We affirm life and neither hasten nor postpone death. Hospice provides support and care for individuals and their loved ones as they face the last phases of a life-limiting illness. The goal of our hospice team is to make patients physically, emotionally and spiritually comfortable so they may remain at home as long as possible with minimal disruption to normal activities.

What kind of services are included in Hospice Care?

Our interdisciplinary hospice team can help with and offer:

  • Nursing Care
  • Medical Equipment
  • Medications Symptom Control and Pain Relief
  • Short-term Hospital Care as needed
  • Home Health Aide Services
  • Social Services
  • Spiritual Counseling
  • Dietary Counseling
  • Grief Counseling for the family for 13 months after the date of death

When to choose hospice care

It's a difficult decision, but the earlier you involve hospice, the better. We can help make the final months, weeks and days as comfortable as possible.

If you choose hospice sooner, you can get the full benefit of hospice by establishing a rapport with your primary nurse and your hospice team, we can help manage pain and symptoms immediately, and your hospice team can help prepare family and loved ones.

How does hospice manage pain?

Your hospice team can identify the most effective methods of pain management to keep patients comfortable and free of pain and other symptoms. We work as a team and consult with other specialists to ensure the medication is appropriate to your specific needs.

What are the qualifications for hospice care?

If you or your loved one have been diagnosed with a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less, our team can meet with you to see if hospice is right for you.  When you choose hospice, curative treatment is no longer sought. We encourage you to speak with your doctor about this decision. An order from your attending physician is needed to be admitted to hospice care.  

Our interdisciplinary hospice team includes advanced nurse practitioners, registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, licensed social workers, chaplains and volunteers.

We would be happy to answer any questions you have. Please call 800-551-6566.

Everlasting Memories

The Everlasting Memories Program, offered in all Illinois service areas, allows us to grant wishes to our patients and provide them with an item or event to cherish.

Everlasting Memories offers opportunities for finding joy, lifting the spirits of those who know the end is near and providing their families with a space to share their feelings and memories to cherish once their loved one is gone. The program has provided one last swim, birthday and anniversary celebrations, “bucket list” experiences, favorite meals and more.