Where is your agency located?

   Alpha serves our neighbors in Utah, Salt Lake, Weber and Davis counties.  We provide home health and hospice services.  We have a toll free number you can call to have your specific questions answered:  1-877-852-1080

What is hospice?

     Hospice care is available when a patient and their family have decided that the goal of care has moved from looking for a cure to providing comfort.  When a patient with a terminal illness decides that they no longer will seek curative treatment, and the medical community agrees that life expectancy is six months or less if the illness runs its normal course, you are eligible for hospice.  A free evaluation is available by appointment.  Call us and let us assess your situation.

Who is eligible for hospice?

     Anyone whose terminal illness has progressed to the point that it has caused a significant decline in nutritional and/or functional status indicating a life expectancy of six months or less is eligible for hospice.  Also, persons with certain types of cancer or any cancer with metastatic disease are eligible. 

What if I live longer than 6 months?

     No one can predict exactly how long any individual is going to live, and the condition of some patients receiving hospice care may stabilize or improve due to that care, but the stabilization or improvement is often brief and temporary.  As long as a patient has a reasonable expectation of continued decline for a life expectancy of less than six months, they remain eligible for hospice care. 

      Some people who are originally eligible may have a stabilization or improvement that is sustained and expected to continue outside the hospice setting.  They no longer have a life expectancy of six months or less. They would then be discharged from hospice and would be eligible to be readmitted at a future date if their condition and life expectancy declined again.  

What services are available?

     An interdisciplinary team of specially trained professionals are available to provide for the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the patient and family.  Nursing is available 24/7.  The service also provides durable medical equipment such as oxygen, wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds etc. to meet the physical needs you or your loved one may have.  In addition medications related to the terminal diagnosis and medications needed to relieve pain and other symptoms are covered at 100%.  These services are available in your home or wherever you reside.

Who provides care?

     The interdisciplinary team consists of your Attending Physician (you do not have to give up your personal physician), the hospice physician (available for consultation),  registered nurses, social worker, a spiritual counselor, home health aides, volunteers, therapists, and a bereavement coordinator.  Think of hospice as a menu - pick the services that best meet your needs at the time, change your selection as conditions change.

Who pays for hospice?

    Hospice is 100% covered by Medicare and Medicaid and most private insurances have a hospice benefit.

What diseases are indicators that hospice may be appropriate?

    Cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and dementia, liver disease, COPD/lung disease, renal failure, neurologic disease such as ALS, MS or Parkinson’s, stroke or coma, and AIDS can all be hospice diagnoses once the disease has become advanced.  Sometimes people have an overall, irreversible decline that cannot be attributed to one specific diagnosis.  These people can also be eligible for hospice if their condition falls within the guidelines that help us predict life expectancy.

     Of course, if you are wondering if you or your loved one is eligible, the best thing to do is to ask for a free assessment.  Call toll free 1-877-852-1080 to make an appointment.