hospice

monochrome photo of statue — ^{Photo by Alain Frechette on Pexels.com}

Much has been said about dying and about how hard a death can be on loved ones. But I’ve never seen anything like this email, which I received this morning. It’s from Myra Isaacs and Jan Oldenburg, who became the primary caregivers and care organizers for “Mighty Casey” Quinlan, who died April 25 after a month in a skilled nursing facility under the supervision of hospice.

In the past I’ve seen bits and pieces of the many tasks listed here but holy cow, when it’s all put together, it’s sobering. It’s a lot of work, at an unhappy and often stressful time.

I myself was not with them at Casey’s side in Richmond – I’m just the messenger who was blown away by this email and asked to publish it.

[Notes: “Mary” was Casey’s given first name at birth. She never liked the name, so adopted her original last name as her first. CeCe (Cecelia) is her sister.]

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Screen capture of New Yorker article headline

Good hospice can be immensely valuable. But there are predators.

A wise friend referred me to this New Yorker article last month about a Pro Publica investigation. I skimmed it then, and today I read it in full. It’s appalling. If anyone you know is considering hospice, or has been “invited” by a company to consider it, beware. Here’s what the friend basically said – and they were right:

For-profit hospice is a vast crime scene,
and private equity is holding the knife

Note, I’m talking (and the article talks) about for-profit hospice companies. For-profit hospice chains bill the government four times more per patient than not-for-profits, and focus on both maximizing admissions and cutting costs (i.e. cutting back on services), all the while gaming the system to barely squeak under the wire before Medicare makes them give back the money.

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The hard, hard work of supporting a death

“For-profit hospice is a vast crime scene, and private equity is holding the knife”