Brightmoor Hospice stands in the long history and tradition of care provided by our other healthcare facilities. The word “Hospice” comes from the Latin root “hospes,” from which our English words “hospital,” “hospitality,” and “hotel” is derived. The spirit of the word “hospice” is reflected the Latin root word that means both “host” and “guest”.

 

In medieval times, during the Crusades, a hospice was a place of shelter and refuge for weary or ill travelers on difficult journeys, the outward journey undertaken as pilgrims sought to visit holy places, or the inward journey faced by widows, orphans, lepers, and dying persons. Mother Mary Aikenhead founded the Irish Sisters of Charity in Dublin in 1815.

 

The first hospice established in the United States was in New Haven Connecticut, in 1974. The first program was an in-patient unit, and it established the philosophy of palliative care that hospice continues to embrace today. This philosophy supports life and recognizes the rights of the terminally ill persons and their families to live with dignity and to live as pain free as possible. This program recognized all of the physical, social, psychological, and spiritual aspects of one’s personal preparation for the final stages of life.

 

Since that time, the hospice movement has spread and grown. In 1975, the Hospice of St. Luke’s in New York opened the first in-patient facility. National and state organizations have contributed to the development of the hospice concept in this country. Today, hospices are becoming an integral part of the healthcare system. In 1979, the National Hospice Organization (NHO) developed Standards of care for hospices. In 1984, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organization (JCAHO) developed accreditation standards for hospices. Congress approved a permanent Medicare Hospice Benefit program in 1986. Brightmoor Hospice is one of over 1600 hospices in the United States.

 

 

 

Brightmoor Hospice is an organization dedicated to the care of those with limited life expectancy. The focus of patient care is comfort rather than cure. When a patient is dying, attempts to cure the disease are less important. Hospice seeks to relieve the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain and symptoms that accompany a terminal diagnosis. Death is neither hurried nor delayed. When a person faces a life-limiting illness, he/she deserves to live the rest of their life comfortably with enhanced dignity, and to provide shelter and rest to those completing their “journey” here on earth – a “bridge” for those transitioning from this world into the next.

 

Brightmoor Hospice provides dedicated quality holistic care. A multidisciplinary team of professionals addresses the medical, nursing, psychosocial, and spiritual needs of each patient and his or her loved ones. The team consists of physicians, nurses, certified nursing assistants, social workers, counselors, clergy and trained volunteers.

 

Brightmoor Hospice can provide services in either, the patient’s home, a long-term care facility, an assisted living and personal care home, or in an in-patient facility. The locations of service we provide are flexible according to the patient and caregiver’s needs.

 

We provide bereavement services and continuing assistance to families for one year after the death of their loved one. The Brightmoor Hospice support staff remains in regular contact with the family and other loved ones via phone calls, visits and information mailers. Brightmoor also facilitates an ongoing grief support group. Medicare, Medicaid and most insurance plans provide coverage for hospice care. Brightmoor Hospice works with each family to ensure that patients receive the care they need regardless of their ability to pay.