Our Hospice program empowers patients and promotes dignity and quality of life during a person’s final months, weeks, and days.
Our highly skilled interdisciplinary team provides care and comfort to children and adults with terminal illnesses, allowing them to enjoy their last months, weeks, and days in the way they choose, surrounded by the people they love, and in a familiar and comfortable setting.
Our hospice physician, nurses, licensed nursing assistants, social workers, spiritual caregivers, bereavement counselors, and trained volunteers work together as a team to manage medical, emotional, and spiritual needs with a focus on empowerment, informed decision-making, and alleviating pain and suffering.
Emotional and spiritual support is provided not only for patients, but for family members as well.
Hospice & McClure Miller Respite House
Hospice services are provided wherever a patient calls home –whether that be in a private house or apartment, assisted living facility or any other location.
For hospice patients who need advanced symptom management or respite care, services are also offered at the McClure Miller Respite House, a “home away from home.”
The McClure Miller Respite House in Colchester, Vermont, is the state’s only Medicare-certified inpatient residence. Its welcoming living room — with fireplace and aquarium — allows families and friends to easily gather. There is also an open kitchen, and spacious, private resident rooms (with private, fully accessible bathrooms.
McClure Miller Respite House offers round-the-clock care and supportive services so patients and their loved ones can focus on what matters most.
Take a virtual tour of the McClure Miller Respite House
Adult Palliative Care
For adults aged 18 and older with serious, life-limiting illness who are either not ready for hospice or not eligible for hospice AND receiving services from our Adult Home Health program, we provide Adult Palliative Care consultations in the home. Your provider or Adult Home Health care team can refer you to our Palliative team, who can meet with you to assist with goals of care conversations and collaborate with you to relieve distressing symptoms and enhance your quality of life.
Pediatric Palliative Care
The Pediatric Palliative Care program provides care to children with life-limiting illnesses. In accordance with the programmatic requirements established by the State of Vermont, a child must be under the age of 21, have active Vermont Medicaid and be living with a serious life-limiting or life-threatening illness or condition.
Our Pediatric Palliative Care program offers the following services to children and their families:
- Care coordination to ensure a family-centered care plan
- Family and caregiver training and education to support the complex care needs when caring your child
- Expressive therapies to help your child and family members creatively express and process their experiences through art, music, play, dance or movement
- Skilled respite, based on medical need
- Family grief support and bereavement counseling for all involved in the care of your child.
Hospice Outreach Packet
We recognize the importance of a healthcare team that will align with your goals, enhance the quality of your life and support your family. This information packet is intended to help inform your choice of care at this phase of your life.
View the Hospice Outreach Packet PDF
The packet contains the following:
- Letter from the Hospice and Palliative Care Team
- Stories of Hospice Care
- Hospice Services Pamphlet
- Medicare Compare Results
- Medicare Hospice Benefits
- Dying is a Natural Part of Life
- Advance Directive Information Sheet
- A Guide to Putting Your Affairs In Order
