Services provided by the experienced professionals at Center for Hope Hospice & Palliative Care allow caregivers and other family members to spend more quality times with their loved ones.
Virginia can recall the exact moment she decided to call the Center for Hope Hospice & Palliative Care. It was last January in the middle of the night, and she had just finished struggling to change her mother’s bedding. Standing at the kitchen sink, mindlessly finishing the dinner dishes, she caught sight of her reflection in the black glass of her kitchen window. Virginia was stunned at her tired appearance and burst into tears. She realized that she needed help. She simply could not take care of her mother alone anymore.
“This was one of the hardest decisions of my life,” Virginia said. “My mother was always there for me, no matter what. I always felt that it was my responsibility, and my responsibility alone, to take care of her.”
“I never heard of the Center for Hope before, although I’ve lived in Union County my whole life. My mother’s oncologist had given me a list of a few organizations that provided hospice; I had been resisting, but late that night I began calling. When I called the Center for Hope, even though by that time it was almost 2 in the morning, a nurse in one of their facilities answered. We had a brief conversation, during which I explained my mother’s condition and that the Center was one of the hospices recommended by our oncologist. The nurse explained that if I needed someone to come to my home, the Center maintains a runner system whereby a nurse could be at my home shortly.
Calls placed to the Center for Hope, even in the middle of the night, will be answered by a knowledgeable staff member.
“I declined the visit at the time because I didn’t know what could be done immediately, and I felt better just having spoken to the nurse,” Virginia continued.” I was told that a Center staff person with an expertise in hospice would be calling me later on that morning.
“After I said that we didn’t need a visit immediately, we discussed how someone would be in touch the following morning to discuss my family’s options,” she said.
Bridget Martorelli, a patient liaison with the Center, reached out to Virginia that same morning. “I remember Virginia very well,” Bridget said. “She was a really devoted daughter who was taking excellent care of her mother.”
However, Bridget went on to say, “Things had gotten to the point where she just couldn’t manage. She felt guilty … and that’s not an uncommon experience. We talked about the many services the Center provides to a patient and their family at the end of life, our patient response system — which she experienced the night before — and some of what she could expect from us. Mostly, I helped her to understand that bringing in hospice was the right decision … a decision that would both bring in experienced professionals to help care for her mother, and one that would allow her to spend more quality time with her mother. She had a lot of questions. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided to send a nurse out to place Virginia’s mother on the Center’s at home services.”
Care provided by Center for Hope staff members — home health aides, chaplains, social workers and volunteers — act as a team to provide families the best overall experience for loved ones and their families.
“A nurse called me and arranged to visit us that afternoon. When she arrived, it seemed like everything changed at once,” Virginia recalled. “After spending some time examining and talking to both me and my mother, it was decided to bring in a hospital bed and a commode immediately to make our daily lives easier to manage. Additionally, the nurse evaluated my mom for her pain and promised to make recommendations to my mother’s physician so that her breakthrough pain would be minimized or even eliminated.
“All of a sudden, I felt like I had a partner to care for Mom … and a partner with expertise that I could rely on for advice. Over the next few days, I realized this partner was actually more of a team,” she laughed. “I was contacted by a variety of people who offered the services of home health aides, chaplains, social workers and volunteers. My mom and I didn’t need many of these services, but we certainly took advantage of the home health aide, who came to the house and became a wonderful companion to my mother and a great help to me.
“The real crisis came out of left field and caught me off guard. Completely unexpected,” said Virginia. “My son-in-law in North Carolina was in an accident and I had to be with my daughter. I didn’t know what to do. I called Heidi Facchini, a registered nurse and the Center’s director of Clinical Operations. She told me that my mother could come and stay at one of the Center’s facilities and be looked after 24 hours a day at no cost while I was away.”
Respite care — having a patient stay at Center for Hope for a few days to relieve the main family caregiver for whatever reason — is available to all home patients.
“A lot of people do not realize how great of a resource our facilities are even to patients and families in the field,” Heidi said. “Respite care — having a patient stay with us for a few days to relieve the main family caregiver for whatever reason — is available to all of our home patients. It’s a great complement to the services we provide. It also helps the family better understand their options as their needs change. I can’t even tell you how many people have benefited from this program.”
It wasn’t long after Virginia returned home that her mother’s condition took a turn for the worse.
“While we were well prepared for what was to come, it was still very hard for me when she passed,” Virginia said. “The Center’s bereavement program has been a great resource. I’m finding that recovery is a slow process and I miss my mother more than I could have imagined; however, I’m secure in knowing that bringing the Center in gave her the care I just couldn’t provide on my own. I did my best by finding her the best care … and she knew that. We both didn’t know much about hospice — what it was or what it provides — but I now know that it was a blessing.”
“I’m glad that we were able to help Virginia and her mother,” Bridget said. “So many people mention that they get so preoccupied with being a caregiver that they forget that they’re a son or a daughter. Virginia was always a great daughter … she credited her mother’s love for that. They got to spend the time together at the end that both of them wanted and needed. And it’s getting that kind of time that really makes the Center and these services something special.”
Center for Hope Hospice and Palliative Care provides in-home, compassionate and professional skilled care that eases the burdens associated with caring for a loved one during their final days, weeks or months. The Center brings its patients a quality of life that actively supports the individual’s right to live with dignity and in comfort, surrounded by the love of family and friends.
The Center also maintains two residential facilities in Scotch Plains and Elizabeth, which provide compassionate hospice care for those in need of 24-hour assistance, or for whom staying at home provides additional challenges. The Scotch Plains facility also provides palliative care to patients outside of hospice, while the Center also offers in-home hospice services.
The Center for Hope’s experienced and dedicated staff includes doctors, registered and practical nurses, social workers, mental health professionals and certified home health aides. Spiritual and bereavement counselors, along with trained volunteers, provide an extra level of comfort and support.
To learn more, contact the Center, where nurse case managers are happy to explain its services and answer other questions. For more information, call 908-889-7780 or visit cfhh.org.
