FAQs about Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Hospice

Hospice-eligible patients with COVID-19 will be assessed based on hospice program supply of necessary PPE (N-95 mask, goggles or face shield, and gown) to ensure the safety of our staff, patients, and families.

The VITAS mission and core values stem from years of supporting our partners to care for hospice-eligible patients regardless of diagnosis, complexity, acuity, or social circumstance.  

The VITAS care team talks with patients and families to understand their wishes and values, which become part of care plans so that care goals are honored.

The majority of patients near the end of life want to be at home and out of the hospital. We can generally manage patients in their setting of choice with supportive measures and care. 

Many of these symptoms are also common with coronavirus, including fever, shortness of breath, and cough. VITAS incorporates pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments to help alleviate these symptoms while ensuring patient, family, and staff safety. 

Data also documents that 8 of 10 deaths from COVID-19 occur in persons over the age of 65. As such, older adults must practice caution by staying at home, performing good hand hygiene, and avoiding close contact with others. 

With the advent of COVID-19, these protocols continue to evolve as we strive to keep our patients, families and staff safe.

As always, care team members follow all universal safety precautions and incorporate US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and state/local health departments guidance regarding personal protective equipment (PPE). Appropriate PPE varies with each individual situation and may include gloves, masks, shields, and/or gowns.

We also follow protocols and mandates from the facilities we serve, including nursing homes, assisted living communities, care homes for the elderly, etc.

Please contact the specific facility to find out its current status and guidelines.

If your loved one is receiving care at a VITAS inpatient unit or VITAS Suites, use our location search to locate the facility and its phone number.

We also screen patients for risk of COVID-19 with specific guidance to decrease likelihood of exposure for patients, family, and staff.

VITAS team members take their temperature twice daily and monitor themselves for respiratory symptoms and are directed to seek medical attention and not work if experiencing any of these or are not feeling well.

Here are some key strategies and tips for caregiving in the era of COVID-19.

For employees, test decisions are based upon their physicians’ judgment.

For 80 percent of our locations, VITAS maintains its own home medical equipment (HME), delivery and staff. In places where we do not supply our own medical equipment, we work with local suppliers who meet our exacting standards.

Each facility has unique visiting requirements, and we work with our facility partners to schedule visits so we can take care of each patient’s needs. Please contact the facility directly for specific information.

If the facility is not allowing family members to visit loved ones, they are also not allowed to come in with VITAS team members.

However, we can coordinate telehealth visits so that family members can do a video call with their family members while we visit. Please speak with your loved one’s hospice team for specific information about this.

Each visitor to the IPU must have a temperature less than 100 degrees and no respiratory symptoms.

Also, we are limiting visitors to one at a time to allow necessary time with their loved ones, but also recognizing we are in the midst of a pandemic, which requires steps to limit risk of exposure for everyone.

VITAS might limit the number of team members who visit each patient in person due to the scarcity of personal protective equipment resources, as well as to decrease COVID-19 exposure risk for patients and families.

Team members can continue to provide support through telephonic visits, and we have initiated telehealth video calls as well.

These decisions are aided by input from the facility’s medical director, attending physicians, and state/local health departments.

We have an immediate need for volunteers, who we will train, to make support calls to hospice patients and their families. Additionally, we are taking interested volunteers with sewing skills to make Memory Bears from home.

Apply to be a hospice volunteer.