10-Bed, Short-Term Hospice Center to Open in Jeannette

By Bob Stiles

Gretchen Peske says a new hospice center being opened by Excela Health is intended to give short-term care to patients facing death so they can get back in their homes if possible.

The 10-bed hospice center is scheduled to open Monday on the second floor of Westmoreland Hospital at Jeannette, the former Mercy Jeannette Hospital, which was purchased by Excela.

“In these instances, patients can be referred to the center, where our highly trained inpatient hospice team works to get symptoms under control so patients can return home to comfortably rest in a familiar setting,” said Peske, hospice center manager. “The center is not a long-term option, but rather a brief period of support.

“Sometimes a patient stays for a few days, a week or more, and sometimes the patient will end life peacefully in our center. It all depends on the patient’s individual condition.”

Peske said a typical reason a patient would come to the center is to help that person manage pain.

Hospice care is normally for those with a life-threatening illness and a life expectancy of six months or less, she said.

The center is working in cooperation with Excela’s Home and Hospice service. Part of that service’s duties is to care part time for terminally ill patients at their residence.

The center can provide around-the-clock care, with one-on-one attention from nurses, physicians, social services and bereavement specialists, Excela officials said. Staff also can help the family of a loved one facing death.

“We’re trying to help the patients … at the end of life, with loved ones around them,” Peske said.

Rooms are equipped with a flat-screen television and a pull-out chair for a family member who wishes to rest with a loved one. Other features are a telephone, a computer with Internet access and a separate family room.

The center will offer emotional support to families while a loved one is in hospice care and up to 13 months after hospice services end, Excela officials said.

Peske said volunteers also play a major role in hospice care, which is paid through Medicare or other insurance coverage.

Excela officials said hospice patients typically are referred to the center by a physician or other health care professional.

Dr. John Waas is the hospice program medical director and Dr. George Hunter is in-patient hospice center medical director.

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