Hospice Care

Doylestown Health Hospice, a division of Doylestown Hospital and part of Doylestown Health, has been serving patients and families in Doylestown and the surrounding communities for more than 35 years. Our team offers a special kind of care, designed to provide sensitivity and support for patients in need of end-of-life care.

The Hospice team does not hasten nor postpone a person's death. Our philosophy is that through appropriate care, patients and families will achieve physical, mental, and spiritual preparation for death that is comforting to them.

Our Team

At Doylestown Health Hospice, we put patients and their loved ones at the center of our care. Our team of multidisciplinary specialists includes:

• Physicians
• Hospice Medical Director
• Hospice Nurses make regularly scheduled visits to patients, providing expert pain management and symptom control techniques. While a patient is under the care of hospice, a nurse keeps the primary physician informed of the patient's condition. Nurses provide a complete spectrum of skilled nursing care and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Home Health Aides
• Social Workers assist with care planning, provide emotional support and facilitate the use of volunteer and community resources.
• Chaplain
• Volunteers make visits to assist with patient care, help with household activities, or stay with a patient so family and caregivers may rest. Volunteers graduate from an intensive training program and receive ongoing training. Many are relatives and friends of former hospice patients who know how much hospice can help.
• Bereavement Counselors

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Caregiver support: We provide support for the entire family including caregivers through support groups, counseling and more. If you have questions about the condition of your loved one, a nurse is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help you understand what to watch for or expect.
• Bereavement care: We provide continuing contact and personal support for families and friends for up to one year following the death of a loved one.
• Therapy pets: For patients receiving treatment at Doylestown Hospital, they may have the opportunity to receive visits from therapy dogs. Not all facilities offer this amenity, and therapy dogs do not visit a patient's home.
• Volunteers: We have volunteers who will assist with running errands, light housekeeping, play cards and board games with patients who are able and enjoy that, make crafts; and we also have a volunteer who comes to the patient's home to give haircuts.
• Knitters group: There is a knitters group who meets throughout the year to knit blankets. Our volunteers distribute them at the holidays.
• Around-the-clock care: Our nurses are available by phone 24/7, and we have a volunteer who does a check-in call to each family or patient every week. Bereavement volunteers also make check-in calls during the 13-month bereavement period.
• Music therapy: We work with a group called the "Comfort Choir" who will make visits to patients in their home or at a facility. They personalize the music to the patient's taste or time of year (like the holidays, for example). They usually sing about five to six songs each visit.

Hear how our Hospice program has touched the lives of patients, families, caregivers and our associates:

Family and Caregivers

"I love each and every one of you. Everybody hugs me, the nurses, the chaplain, the social worker, the aide, everybody. It's all love."

- Carmella D.

"Thank you so much for the care that you gave to my dad and all of our family through his illness until his passing. I always felt that you knew the very essence of my dad as the gentle, kind man that he was. You were truly a comfort to us all, and you will always have a special place in my heart."

- Sharon S.

"Your comforting professionalism and care were touching. I am forever grateful to our hospice angels. We couldn't have managed without you."

- Suzanne P.

Volunteers

"I have been a volunteer for many years. In that time, I have been richly blessed by the patients and their families. Each story is different. Each story reflects a lifetime of love and experience from which we can draw strength and courage for our own lives."

- Lee A.

"Working for Doylestown Health Hospice has been a rewarding and delightful experience for me. Being welcomed into someone’s home to comfort and serve them during a vulnerable time in their lives is a privilege we Volunteers are very sensible of and sensitive to. Some patients want a close, human connection and some want to remain quiet, just knowing a caring person is nearby. We are both prepared and glad to provide those needs to our community."

- Joanne E.

"Our presence and help as Volunteers engage us with the family as well as the patient. Relationships develop that are enduring."

- Cathy D.