Choice Hospice's Online Review Report Card

This review is a little hard to write. My mother's death is still very fresh so I may have a change of heart later. I initially chose this hospice when I called during my mom's initial diagnosis. They were so helpful and kind on the phone. I was looking for more palliative care between hospice and her getting treatment. Her pain was difficult to manage due to the extent of her cancer. Fast forward to about 6-8 weeks ago when she opted to go on hospice after treatment stopped working. The initial visit with Sarah Jordan was AMAZING. She was so nice and explained everything well. The initial visit with the "drug nurse" (I think his name was Wes?). He was so wonderful and had a great bedside manner. Now the negative: The initial week after our intake was HECTIC to say the least. She had some type of visitor (nurses, aides, chaplain, etc) EVERY SINGLE DAY. No real schedule of when they would arrive. It really ended up putting a lot of stress on our family especially when you have other obligations. Highly recommend scaling this to have it scheduled and/or done in 1 or 2 days. The nurses were just ok. Mom said they were nice. But it took a lot to get the correct items she requested such as depends. Honestly, she never received the correct size and we just ended up buying them out of pocket. There was no real schedule BUT we did ask for them to come on Wednesdays so that we could make our own. They did oblige and that worked well. Her last encounter with the nurse was not a good one. She said that she didn't take her blood pressure, her temp, etc and was very rough when dealing with her depends. She passed away before we had a chance to deal with that. Now for the final night with mom. She was still quite "active" and we would go on weekend trips. We knew the protocol for when she was home and in town but nothing was mentioned for when we were out of town (to be fair, I never asked and should have). So when mom started having issues while we were out, we ended up calling an ambulance. I did call hospice to ask for assistance on what to do. After the answering service took my message, I received a call from a nurse about 20 min later. He was new and filling in. I asked what we should do and he kept mentioning recertifying or something of that nature and getting her discharged...she was UNCONSCIOUS. So I am just supposed to discharge my unconscious mother and drive her 40 min to the house to have a nurse come god knows when?? I then asked if he would like to speak to the staff on what should and shouldn't be done to her during this, he didn't show any interest. It literally left me just wondering what I should do. I then decided to move forward as if hospice didn't exist and go by our original plan as a DNR. She passed a couple hours later. Just some advice: Schedule things if possible. It helps the family during a difficult time. It doesn't have to be a specific time and day but narrow it down (like Wednesday in the morning). Not all patients are bedridden. Adjust your care accordingly. Explain what should happen if they are out of town. Who to call. Where to go. What can and cannot be done. Family should also receive weekly or so updates about what is done during the nurse visits. I never once received any information as her POA on what was happening during her visits to ensure her care was proper. Something as simple as vital signs, areas of concern, supplies delivered, etc. I have no desire to speak to anyone from this company regarding my experience. I have stated everything that needs to be stated.

What a great team of caregivers! Thank you for going above and beyond every day to care for these patients and families.

We just lost ny Grandma, and we were lucky enough to call this hospice place. There could not have been more kind caring and compassionate care given to our grandmother or our family. There answered all our questions, helped us navigate this process gave us greiving time and loved us through it all. Thank you.

I work with this company as a home health provider in the same area. We consistently recommend them for our patients who need hospice care. I know our patients will be taken care of when they choose Mccortney's.

Wonderful nurses, a loving supporting staff.

Very pleased with the caring nurses and staff when they took care of my Dad.

Let me just tell you about this company. When my dad was on his death bed they were unable to help me because of where he lived. But they gave me resources and helped my family out with questions, and with out hesitation. I also worked for the In Home Care side of Mr. McCourtneys business. That's how I really got to know the hospice team, well family..because that's what they are. I've seen how they treat their patients. I've seen letters of appreciation that they have gotten patients family members. They ladies that work for this company are real. They care about what they do and they care about their patients. They work as a team and always help each other out. They are the foundation of this company. I recommend them each and every time I hear that someone is needing hospice. They are worth way more than 5 Stars!! Love you ladies and keep up the good work!!!