What sets Grace Hospice Home apart?
A unique setting
With its formation based on a social model of care, Grace Hospice Home will not be a medical facility. Rather, it will be a home focused on end of life care where our residents and families can finish their stories well. Grace Hospice Home will serve residents at the end of their journeys, with a prognosis of 3 weeks or less.
A partnership
Our Home will partner with local Pittsburgh hospice agencies to support the care of their patients. The interdisciplinary teams of our partner licensed hospice agencies will provide all of the Medicare/insurance reimbursed care and treatments required by our residents. Grace Hospice will support and supplement the hospice provider’s medical plan for symptom management.
A family of caregivers
The staff and volunteers of Grace Hospice Home will step into the role of “caregivers” and become an extension of our residents’ families. All staff and volunteers will be expertly trained in end of life care and be able to provide for our residents’ personal care needs and offer emotional and spiritual support.
A freedom to serve those in need
Our Home will not receive reimbursement from Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance, freeing us from the regulations of these insurers and allowing us to open our doors and provide around the clock care to patients who would not qualify for continuous care under the restrictions of Medicare and insurance plans.
A first for Pittsburgh
As a non-profit 501(c)(3) community organization, Grace Hospice Home will be the first established home for the dying (Social Model Hospice) in the Western Pennsylvania area.
Why a “Social Model” for Hospice Care?
Additional Information
Hospice care regulated by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance offers only limited availability of alternate care settings, around-the-clock care, and on-going caregiver relief. As a result, the needs of many patients “fall between the cracks” under existing Medicare and insurance based hospice plans.
While most individuals wish to die in their own homes, many situations present roadblocks to patients and families with regard to in-home, end-of-life care. Whether due to limited financial resources, limited availability of caregivers, or caregiver burnout, individuals who can no longer be cared for at home are often transferred to skilled nursing facilities to receive end-of-life care, even though skilled nursing settings typically cannot provide the home-like environment needed for optimal support of dying patients and their loved ones.
The Omega Home Network represents a growing national “grass roots” movement to bring hospice care back to what it was originally intended to be—the provision of hospitality to the dying in a home-like setting. These “homes for the dying” have been, and continue to be, established across the United States. Pappus House in York, PA was the first such home for the dying established in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Please help us to extend this compassionate, comfort-based model of care to the City of Pittsburgh.
Learn More
To find out more about The Omega Home Network and the development and expansion of community homes for the dying, please visit www.omegahomenetwork.org.