Is the Lockwood House is going to be the Dementia facility in the future and the McLaughlin House for other Hospice patients?
- The Lockwood House is not a dementia facility and there are no plans to make it one. As a rule of thumb, we will try to direct patients with the highest needs to Lockwood House for two simple reasons:
- We always have a nurse at Lockwood House (LPN) 24/7; and
- We have security systems at Lockwood House that we do not have a McLaughlin House. The security systems at Lockwood House include a “Wander Guard” system, which allows us to monitor patients (often with dementia) who tend to wonder, have the mobility to do so, and would not be safe leaving the house without supervision. That does not mean that all dementia patients are at Lockwood House. We have dementia patients at McLaughlin House as well. It’s important to understand that the fastest growing population of hospice patients to day have some type of dementia. The dementia may or may not be their primary diagnosis, but as people today live longer, more patients with all types of terminal illness also happen to have dementia. All hospice patients, whether they have dementia or not must meet very clear criteria to become eligible for hospice under the Medicare guidelines. Once a physician has determined that a patient meets the criteria for hospice, we will provide hospice care. Prairie Home Hospice accepts hospice patients regardless of the type of terminal diagnosis they have, as long as a physician has deemed them to be eligible for hospice and as long as we feel we can meet their needs.
If you got signed up for the wrong hospice, how can you get signed up for Prairie Home Hospice once you realize you are in the wrong hospice?
- There are two ways in which this situation can be corrected:
- The patient/family can contact Prairie Home Hospice and let them know that there was a misunderstanding and they are not getting their hospice/home care services from the agency that they wanted and ask Prairie Home Hospice to assist in helping them to transfer to the hospice/home care agency of their choice. In this case, Prairie Home Hospice would assist in contacting the other agency to facilitate a transfer. Other than a little paperwork, the transfer happens seamlessly, and the patient continues to work with their same doctors, etc.
- The patient/family can simply let the hospice/home care agency they are on know that there was a misunderstanding in the process of being admitted to hospice/home care and indicate that they wish to transfer services to Prairie Home Hospice. The patient or family can contact Prairie Home Hospice at this time and ask for assistance with that transfer also, especially if the current agency is reluctant to transfer or pressures the patient/family in any way.
The bottom line is that Medicare regulations require that when hospice or home care services are recommended, physicians, hospitals and other health care providers must provide patients clear information about all agencies in the community that are available to provide those services AND allow the patient to freely choose which agency they would like to provide those services, without pressure to make any specific choice.
Can an individual only receive hospice services in a hospice house?
- No, You may receive hospice services in your own home, apartment, assisted living facility, long-term care facility, or at a free-standing hospice house.
Why does PHH need to ask for donations and raise money with the Charity Event and other events and then they still charge clients for services?
- Typically, 17% or so of our budget comes from fundraising and contributions. These are the dollars that allow us to consistently provide a high level of quality care to those we serve.
Because of these dollars, we are able to:
- Provide more direct care staff time with patients, to ensure their needs are being met.
- Provide special services such as pet therapy, massage therapy, salon services, etc.
- Provide more social work time and support for patients and families.
- Provide competitive salaries, wages and benefits to employees which helps us to recruit and retain a top-notch team of employees. Meet or exceed regulatory standards consistently.
- Provide a consistently high level of patient and family satisfaction. Provide family assistance to families who may not be able to fully pay for the services they receive.
- Maintain our long-standing reputation as a quality provider of hospice and home care services, which has been a key factor in the strong support we get from the community in terms of volunteers, partnerships, fundraising and contributions.
Our supporters and partners in the community have been incredibly generous during the past year in supporting the work we do!
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- Our Annual Hospice Charity Event & Auction has been very successful in recent years, raising over $100,000 last year to support the work that we do. While this event has a long history of success and while we would like to believe that it will continue to raise funds at the same level as recent year, we know that this event (and all of our fundraisers) can be sensitive to factors, such as:
- The economic climate. A downturn in the economy will generally result in a downturn in contributions (and fundraising results), as consumers decrease non-essential spending.
- Our Annual Hospice Charity Event & Auction has been very successful in recent years, raising over $100,000 last year to support the work that we do. While this event has a long history of success and while we would like to believe that it will continue to raise funds at the same level as recent year, we know that this event (and all of our fundraisers) can be sensitive to factors, such as:
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- We established our Light Up the Night event in hopes that we can grow this event over the next 1-3 years. We believe that this event provides several opportunities, including:
- Creating an event that draws people from the region into our community during the holiday season. This will have a positive impact on the business community, as those folks will likely stop in the community to eat, shop, gas up, etc. This allows us a great opportunity to give back to the local business community that has generously supported us through contributions, sponsorships, etc. for many years.
- Enhancing our public image in the community. We have received extremely positive feedback from the community regarding this event. Not only does the community appreciate the event itself, but also recognize and appreciate the benefit that this event provides for the community overall. This has served to enhance our reputation as a strong community-minded partner. It generates the kind of PR that money cannot buy, just as our reputation for providing quality service consistently does. All the advertising dollars in the world cannot buy a reputation for quality service and a reputation as a community-minded organization whose primary goal is to serve the community well.
- Our Tree of Remembrance continues to be an annual tradition that is very meaningful to those who participate. It consistently generates about $10,000 annually to support our budget. It is unique in that it allows us to have a presence in area communities that we serve. Like our other fundraising events, it also builds good will.
- Tough Enough to Wear Pink provides opportunity for a number of benefits, including:
- Raising community awareness in the region about Breast Cancer/Cancer Awareness, through:
- Participation in several local community parades throughout the summer where we distribute awareness brochures related to breast cancer.
- Participation in “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” Night at the Lyon County Rodeo where we bring attention to breast cancer awareness (and also raise funds to support the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign).
- Discussions on our monthly radio program at least 3 times per year that focuses on the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Campaign and Breast Cancer awareness.
- Press Releases that focus on the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Campaign and Breast Cancer awareness throughout the year, and in October which is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
- Raising funds that support:
- Financial support for families or individuals who are burdened by the extraordinary expenses that a cancer diagnosis can create. We provide small grants and donations for individual fundraisers, etc. not only to those who are receiving our services but others in the community who are experiencing financial hardship related to their cancer diagnosis, treatment, etc. Those burdens can be created by lost wages for patient or family members; increases in medical co-payments and/or deductibles; travel expenses to and from medical facilities; etc.
- We provide a free massage to anyone in the community who is currently undergoing cancer treatment and continue to provide a 50% discount for all massages they may receive throughout their treatment.
- We provide free gift packets for cancer patients that are distributed through Avera and ACMC Health.
- The Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign also enhances our reputation as a community-minded organization that is here to serve the community and also provides us opportunities for enhancing partnerships with the organizations that sponsor the campaign, and the communities where we participate in the parades.
- Raising community awareness in the region about Breast Cancer/Cancer Awareness, through:
- The Annual Raffle provided dollars to help to meet our overall fundraising goals for the year.
- The Capital Campaign to support the establishment of McLaughlin House.
- General Donations & Memorials are critical to our ability to meet our annual fundraising/contributions goal of 17%, which allows us to continue to provide the best possible care to those we serve.
- Planned Giving gifts provide financial stability for the long run and helps to ensure that we are able to continue to provide the same quality care and services to patients and families in future years that we do today.