Hospice care in Montclair, NJ
At Mountainside Medical Center, our hospice team is dedicated to providing compassionate care for patients facing life-limiting illnesses. Our focus is on enhancing the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of our patients, ensuring they receive all-encompassing support during this challenging time. Our hospice services include comprehensive medical and psychosocial care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support — all tailored to meet the unique needs of each patient and their family. Whether you receive care at home or in our inpatient facility, our hospice team is here to help you navigate this journey with compassion and respect.
What is hospice care?
Hospice provides care to patient’s facing a life limiting illness, with a focus on physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Hospice provides patients with comfort, compassion, dignity and helps families be together when they need each other most. This involves a team-oriented approach to medical and psychosocial care, pain management as well as emotional and spiritual support. Hospice care includes a complement of benefits related to the hospice diagnosis, including clinical services, durable medical equipment (like a bed or wheelchair), medical supplies (like wound care), and medications. The clinical services involve our physicians, nurses, home health aides, medical social workers and chaplains. We also have volunteers available to provide additional support.
Unlike other medical care, the focus of hospice care is not to cure the underlying disease, but to support the highest quality of life possible.
Where is hospice care provided?
Medicare and Medicaid provide 100% coverage of hospice care which includes 4 Levels of care:
- Continuous Level of Care: This type of care provides intensive symptom management at home and requires the presence of a hospice nurse for a minimum of 8 hours and up to 24 hours in a day. Continuous home care is only furnished during brief periods of crisis.
- General Inpatient Level (GIP) of Care: This type of care is provided in a hospital or Skilled Nursing Facility for intensive symptom management that the Hospice Medical Director and team have determined cannot be managed in other settings, such as home and requires GIP level of care.
- Respite Level of Care: If a hospice patient is at home and the caregiver is fatigued or needs a break, Hospice of NJ will arrange for transportation, admission and payment to a contracted Medicare certified Skilled Nursing Facility for a period of 5 days so the caregiver can get rest.
- Routine Home Hospice Care: This type of care is provided in the patient’s home, a skilled nursing facility, or an assisted living facility. Patients receive regular visits from a team of hospice specialists (nurse, social worker, chaplain, home health aides and volunteers).
About our inpatient hospice care program
Mountainside Medical Center has partnered with Hospice of New Jersey to provide General Inpatient (GIP) hospice care for patients in the hospital when appropriate. A hospice nurse or physician will evaluate the patient to determine if the patient meets criteria for admission.
When patients in the hospital have severe symptoms that cannot be managed at home, inpatient hospice care is available at Mountainside Medical Center. Patients and family members are able to work with the hospice team at the hospital which includes:
- Hospice bereavement coordinators
- Hospice chaplains
- Hospice nurses
- Hospice social workers
- Hospice volunteers
- The Hospice physician
- The patient’s physician
Once the symptom that warranted GIP care are under control, the Hospice Team will work with the patient and family, as well as the medical team at Mountainside Medical Center, to transition the patient back home or to a facility of their choice.
To learn more about hospice services at Mountainside Medical Center please contact the Case Management Department at 973-429-6136.