July 21, 2025 • 30 mins
Community DC Host Dennis Glasgow tals about hospice care, specifically with Steve Cone, who is the Chief of Communications, Marketing, and Philanthropy at Capital Caring – which provides hospice and palliative care, along with related support services, to individuals facing serious illnesses and their families in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and surrounding regions.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
I'm your host Dennis Glasgow. This morning, I'm gonna a
chance to talk about hospice care, specifically with Steve Cohne,
who is the chief Communications, Marketing and Philanthropy at Capital Caring,
which provides hospice and pelative care, along with related support
services to individuals facing serious illnesses and their families in
(00:26):
the Washington, d C. Metropolitan area and surrounding regions. Here's
my conversation with Steve. Good morning, Steve, good morning, Well,
it's great to have you board Community d SCENE. I
really am looking forward to the next thirty minutes and
chatting with you about all the amazing things that you,
your team and everybody else is doing at Capital Caring Health.
But I did want to do this. I probably didn't
do a justice in the intro just now, but I
(00:48):
would love to hear about the origin story and the
history of Capital Caring because it really is amazing. I
know goes back to the late seventies, but can you
share with our listeners about how everything got started.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Capital Caring Health was one of the original fifteen hospice
organizations that began operation in the United States in nineteen
seventy seven. That was even before the Medicare legislation was
passed to cover hospice expenses, and that happened in nineteen
eighty two. So we were started by some wonderful folks
(01:18):
now forty eight years ago, and during this period of
time we have cared for roughly five hundred thousand patients
and family members and members of the community because we
provide some services to the community whereby they don't have
to have a patient relationship with us.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So what I'd like to do before we get into
all the amazing things that you offer. It really is
truly incredible how many different things are going on there.
I'd love to talk about the mission and the vision currently.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
What are they very simple are not for profit. Mission
is to here for all at the end of life
and in certain other services, regardless of race, citizenship status,
or ability to pay. So anybody who lives in our
service area, which is what we call the DMV Washington,
d C, North Virginia in three counties of Maryland.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Everything we provide.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
In our service area is either covered by insurance or
we cover it as a not for profit through our
philanthropy efforts. Well and as I mentioned, as I mentioned
very quickly, you don't even have to be a citizen.
You just have to live in our service area for
us to provide care for you and your family.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
And you have a family.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yeah, and I imagine that that's a very unique thing.
I don't know about other centers that maybe kind of
do what you do out there in nonprofits, but what
you do is it unique?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah? You know, I like to.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I like to say that we're probably the only example,
the not for profit hospice world is probably the only
example in the medical world where the first question we
ask a patient and a family is not do you
have an insuranarance card? And I wish more people understood
(03:09):
that hospice care is free. It's either covered by Medicare,
Medicaid or most private insurance. And if for some reason
a patient or family or underinsured or uninsured, we provide
a capital. And this is true of other not for
profits around the country. We provide, thanks to philanthropy, around
(03:32):
two to three million dollars a year in what we
call charity care or adults and children who need hospice care.
And another thing I want to get across the folks
is you know, there's this misconception that if I am
(03:54):
all my loved one in hospice for giving up on life,
and nothing could be further from the truth. What you're
giving up on, I like to say, is a better
life for an extended period of time, because almost always,
and it's been proven over and over again, almost always,
(04:15):
if people enroll in hospice sooner versus the last few
days of their lives, they will live much longer and
be much happier than the only alternative, and the alternative
to hospice is hospitalization. Usually many hospital visits to the
(04:36):
er getting being put in a hospital room, obviously being
hooked up to a bunch of machines. Tragically, often dine
alone without family, president or friends, and hospice was created
to avoid that situation. Hospitals don't want patients dying in
the hospital. They want them back home or wherever they live.
(04:58):
So of the time hospice care is provided by us
and others in the home or wherever the patient calls home.
It can be a residence, assistic living facility, nursing home,
whatever they call home. And they live better and longer
in hospice for two major reasons. One just emotionally, they
(05:22):
feel better in familiar surroundings with family and friends able
to visit, come and go as they please. Many people
are extremely attached to their pets. This is a big thing,
whether it's during life or the end of life, and
of course they're present if they're in their home and
pets are allowed. And the other reason they live longer
(05:46):
is they're not being over medicated, which can lead to
premature death. And when someone is deemed qualified to enter
hospice care, that means the two physicians, an attending physician
and one of ours agree that best case, this person
has six months or less to live, and they again,
(06:13):
they can they can be They're much happier in their
home setting, and we're we're our mission is to make
them pain free and comfortable, not to try to cure
them anymore, which can be counterproductive at the end of
life and can lead to premature death, which which unfortunately
(06:35):
happens all too often. So hospice is a wonderful alternative
with more precious moments with family and friends where you
want to be as the patient. And then the other
unique aspect of hospice care is it's for the whole family.
If there is family and literally we we counsel the
(06:59):
family members through the patient's journey because if the patient's
not in hospice and it's hospitalizations instead, there's no one
supporting the family, which family members are usually under more
stress than the patient. Right, So it's a very important
(07:22):
part of our mission to make sure that family members
are being taken care of emotionally, and how we explain
everything that's going on in clear and concise terms so
there's no confusion about the patient's journey. And then when
the patient eventually passes. But I don't have a problem
(07:47):
saying when they die. When the patient dies, and often
that's many months after they've enrolled in hospice care if
they enroll early. When the patient dies, we provide free
bereaemen counseling to all members of the family who are
around for as long as necessary. That's free bereamen counseling
(08:11):
provided right away, versus if you're trying to find a
mental health professional as a family to help with your grief,
often there as a long waiting list of weeks or
months and the professionals have to charge for their service,
and our grief counseling is free of charge. It's not
(08:34):
covered by insurance, which is why philanthropy is so important
for us to cover that expense. And we provide bereamen
counseling for the entire community, so you don't have to
have a patient relationship with us, and so we wish
more people knew about that community service as well.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Right, well, that's why we have you here and to
get the megaphone of my heart to do all the
amazing things that you're doing with your team, you know
the other thing, And I'm glad you talked about all
those things, and I do want you to talk about
the types of care because you're starting to touch on it,
about what you offer and there's many ways and the
types of care you have. But I just want to
circle back about, you know, using your services, because one
thing that I've read in my travels of different families
(09:19):
and friends and co workers that have not used hospice,
the burden that's put on a family, especially if they're
a patient or family members at home. They're not equipped
to do that, Steve, and I don't think that they
know that because they're so need to deep in somebody
being very ill, and when they find out about you,
I know that taking that person out of the home
(09:39):
might scare them, but you just started to talk about
all the amazing things that you and your team do
and how much easier and the burden is lifted off them, right.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And it's in the home. Yeah right.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
So percent of the time, yeah, five percent of the time.
Usually in the last two or three weeks of life,
some patients need around the clock here Hospice Guity to
make sure they're as comfortable and painfree as possible. And
when that's the case, we move them into one of
(10:13):
our inpatient facilities. We have two operating at the moment,
one out near Dulles Airport in Loudon County and one
on the grounds of Civilly Memorial Hospital in northwest Washington
and so and these inpatient facilities are meant to be
(10:39):
as non hospital like as possible, so there are no
visiting hours. Family members and friends can come and visit
twenty four to seven. They can even stay with the
patient overnight or the whole time they're in our inpatient facility.
We even allow live pets, one at a time to
(11:01):
visit with the patient. And there's lots of stories about
how grateful the patient and family have been that we
allow that sort of thing, and so it's a wonderful,
very critical part of hospice care to have these inpatient
facilities for the few patients that really need them. In
(11:24):
the last few weeks, you know of life right.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Well, listen, you mentioned philanthropic and you are a nonprofit,
and I think it's a great segue for us to
talk about how you are funded. And then I do
also want to talk about volunteers because I think that's
also an important part of what you do and how
you get the help out there. So when it comes
to funding, donations and philanthropic, how does it all work?
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Right?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
So, we we are reimbsed for our hospice services through insurance,
assuming the patient and family have insurance, and a majority
of our patients are sixty five and over and are
(12:08):
enrolled in Medicare and or Medicaid, and so those hospice
costs are covered people under sixty five, most private insurance
will cover almost all of hospice costs. And as I
mentioned earlier, if for some reason the patient and or
(12:30):
family have no insurance, that's why we have our ongoing
philanthropy effort with individuals, local businesses, foundations, government entities so
that we can provide charity care, which I mentioned earlier
(12:51):
is on an annual basis somewhere between two to three
million dollars to cover those that are that don't have
for some reason insurance. And also our bereatment counseling, which
has been part of our mission since day one, is
not covered by insurance. So that's a major reason, another
(13:14):
major reason why philanthropy it's so important. And also we
get tens of thousands of hours of volunteers time, which
is also a critical part of us fulfilling our mission.
We have and I don't think this is a typical
(13:35):
but not for profit hospice world. We have more volunteers
than we have paid employees.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
And the volunteers do a number of different tasks. They
go through a pretty rigorous training program and they can
specialize in what they want to do. Do they want
to visit the patient and family in their home. Do
they want to run errands for them? Do they want
to help with housekeeping and meals? Do they want to
(14:04):
walk the pets? Do they want to provide what we
call tucking calls where they actually call the patient on
a nightly basis. If they're able to speak to see
how they're doing. And then we have a whole group
of volunteers who specialize in a very important area that
(14:29):
we're the leading provider of on the East Coast as well,
which is children's hospice. So we're the all this children's
hospice provider in the nation. We're the largest on the
East Coast, and we're considered a national center of excellence
(14:50):
for providing and of life care for kids with terminal issues.
And you know, so when a family finds out that
their child is terminal, they want them out of the
hospital as soon as possible and back home of the time,
and we have volunteers that specialize in helping those families
(15:17):
through the journey of their child. And we even have
a group called the Elf Squad at holiday time who
dress up as else and deliver gifts and Christmas trees
if they're a Christian family, or manoras if they're Jewish
or whatever, and provide all kinds of holiday cheer that
(15:44):
both physical, mental, and material for those families with kids
in our care. And they also do this we also
have other volunteers that do the same thing for our
adult patients, but the Alf squad is a very special
part of what we do for the kids.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Right well, Steve, I imagine you and I would agree
on something that when it comes to life, there's not
a manual for having a kid or getting married. And
one of the big ones in the subject matter we're
talking about is when a loved one is dying and
about where to start. And I'd love to just to
hear you know when somebody reaches out to you the
first time, and I'd like you to explain how they
(16:25):
do that, and we'll give the website a couple of
times and phone numbers and anything else that we need
to for people that are we're getting their attention right
now that might need you and your team services. But
when it comes just to reaching out and how the
process works, and I understand that every family's journey is
a little bit different, so I get that part of it,
but just in general terms, how does the whole process
work when they reach out to you?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Right well, we have a twenty four to seven phone
number which we try to promote as much as possible,
and as well as our website where they can find
the phone number and they can call at any time
and inquire about their loved one, and then we can assess.
(17:14):
We have specially trained people that answer the phones around
the clock, and then, based upon the situation, if it
seems like hospice may well be needed, we will send
one of our clinicians to the home or wherever the
person lives to make a physical assessment, and that can
(17:38):
all happen over the course of a day or two,
so it's not all lengthy, long process, nor should it be.
And by the way, that reminds me that there's a
misconception that if you enroll in hospice you're no longer
in control of your journey, and nothing could be further
from the truth. The patient can decide they don't want
(18:03):
to be in hospice any longer at any time, and
we don't restrict who can visit them, including other physicians,
we or their religious leaders that they're involved with. We
also provide non denominational chaplains and social workers as part
(18:26):
of our team for the patient and the family, and
the social worker often spends a lot of time with
family members, so it's a comprehensive service for the patient
and the family, and the patient and family are in
(18:47):
control and in fact, oh Gosh, I'll tell you about
fifteen percent of the time, we determined that the patient
has improved no longer need hospice, and so they're released
from hospice care. And I should also mention that the
(19:10):
initial hospice benefit is for six months, So if enrolled
in hospice initially, that means.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
It's a six month benefit, and then.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
At the end of that period of time, reassess if
there's still with us, should they remain in hospice or
can they no longer need it right now at least,
so it's an interactive process. The patient and family are
in control. Ultimately, they decide to enroll, and they decide
(19:49):
to stay in hospice if they wished to.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Okay and listen, Steve, I did want to circle back
to one thing because this is on the website where
people can read much more about it. But when it
comes to ways to give you you really do cover
all the bases. It's amazing and it's well thought out.
There is monthly donations, there's one time donations, tributelights, memorial gifts,
emergency relief fund, plan giving and downment opportunities. You mentioned
(20:13):
the capital carrying kids naming opportunities, attendant event, workplace giving,
donate your vehicle, thrift store, you really do kind of
it's a gambit of ways people can give back. So
I think I want to make that very clear that
it's just not one way that you can be a
part of this, right, there's many ways to do it.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Yes, you can choose what you want to support, and
reminds me of two areas that we are really focused
on that are very special. So we're the leading hospice
(20:51):
provider of companying robotic pets or three groups those suffering
from dementia where these companion robotic pets have proven through
multiple clinical studies. Plus we see this firsthand every day
(21:14):
me as well as my colleagues. When you hand a
robotic dog or cat to a person with mid to
late dementia, mid level to late level dementia, their whole
personality almost always changes for the better, I believe, sometimes
sometimes instantaneously from being agitated, confused, sometimes physically violent, which
(21:43):
is really unfortunate, but with some dementia patients that happens.
And then when they're hand and a pet, a dog
or a cat, they light up and they become calm
and you can see the joy in their this is
something that belongs to me.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
This is my pet. They almost always.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Name them, and they usually not usually sometimes they think
we're not trying to fool them in any way, but
they often think it's a pet from the past that's
come back to be with them. And these robotic pets
respond like real pets. The sites sound in touch, and
the more you interact with them, the more they interact back.
There's no upkeep, and they love you and you love
(22:32):
them back. And it also allows the caregiver and you
see this repeatedly, to leave their loved one with the pet,
you know, for an hour or two or whatever, and
they don't have to constantly be with their loved one
suffering from dementia if the pets present. And so it's
(22:54):
just a wonderful program, and we provide these pets free
of charge donations. Donations are optional and all we're always grateful,
but we provided around five thousand pets so far over
the last few years locally, regionally, and nationally for families
(23:15):
with a loved one suffering from the mention. Now, the
second purpose, which is new for us, is we also
provide the pets thanks to grants in the DMV specifically
to so far to elderly folks living alone in the
(23:37):
District of Columbia. And we know that living in isolation
with no family present and no caregiver almost either no
caregiver or rarely a caregiver for this elderly person leads
to very often very severe depression and premature mortality. And
(24:05):
these pets have proven to change their personality for the
better in overwhelming ways, Like somewhere around eighty five percent
of elders in DC who receive the pet six months
after that say they feel much better about themselves and
(24:30):
both physically and mentally, So that's a wonderful thing. And
then the third use of the pets is for children
in our care who are bedridden a large part of
the time and would like something furry and fun to
be with them, which these pets also provide that kind
(24:54):
of comfort.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
So just a wonderful.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Part of our mission, and I'm very happy that we
haven't been spearheading this effort now going on five years.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
And then the other.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Area where philanthropy is very important is we're renovating a
third inpatient center in Arlington County, which was one of
the very first to open way back in nineteen eighty
two and we operated it for forty consecutive years and
(25:35):
now it needs a complete renovation so that we can
make it again a state of the art facility, which
it was way back then, but after forty years was
no longer and so this.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Arlington Center for Caring, we're hoping.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
To start renovating it in the early fall of this year,
and it's a big project.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Millions of dollars I've raised.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
We've raised some millions so far and we're looking for more,
so that's a major focus of ours to get the
money necessary to The goal is to open it at
the end of twenty twenty six as we enter our
fiftieth year, so then we'll be one of very few
(26:29):
hospice organizations around the country that have three inpatient centers
in operation. Most hospices have none, and about eight hundred
or so have won and there are over six thousand
hospice groups nationwide, so it's a very special thing that
(26:52):
we're able to do by maintaining these in patient centers,
which are very costly to run, we liitterly provide a
nurse for every two patients around the clock, so that's
a part of our mission. That's very special and very.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Necessary, sure, and it's very extraordinary to the growth, not
just the sustainability over the years, but my goodness and
all the money that has to go into that. Steve,
we only have about a minute half left and I'd
just like to get a recap on your thoughts. We
do want to give the website and the twenty four
to seven phone number to everybody out there as we
finish up, but maybe just what we talked about some
final thoughts from you. The floor is yours, sir.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Denis a end of life.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
There are only two choices, hospice or hospitalization, and I
wish more people understood that the hospice benefit is in
so many ways the right route to go. Maybe not
one hundred percent of the time, but certainly ninety eight
percent of the time. Hospitals aren't set up to handle
(27:57):
end of life care. They don't want to provide it.
They want the patient to be back home or wherever
they live. And the benefit is for at least six months,
patients and family members feel so much better with us
coming to them versus them having to go to the
hospital for repeated visits. And it's a benefit that not
(28:22):
enough people utilize in the DMV of hospice utilization in Washington,
Northern Virginia and Maryland is way below the national average,
and that shouldn't be the case. So I really thank
you and your colleagues for allowing me to talk about
(28:45):
the hospice benefit which is so wonderful and so necessary
for people at the end of life that they should
embrace it, not be scared of.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
It at all.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, well, it's an education. Let's give the website and
a phone number, now, Steve.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
A website is very easy, Capitalcarring dot org Capitalcaring dot
org and the phone number is eight hundred eight six'
nine two one three. Six and if you go to
our website, homepage you'll also see another phone number which
is for out of our service, area and we actually created.
This We Capital carrying created this other number so that
(29:24):
if you have a family, member a, relative a close
friend anywhere else in the country who you think might
need hospice, care you can call that number and be
put immediately in touch with one of our sister organizations
anywhere in the. Nation so that's a wonderful benefit to
know about as.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Well, Understanding, STEVE i can't thank you enough for your valuable.
Time please give my best to all your people, there
your literal. Angels we appreciate the education and we're glad
we could partner up with you and get just the
word out there about what's happening when it comes To
Capital Caring. Hell thank you so much for joining us
On COMMUNITY dc sure.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Thing thank You dennis
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
I'm your host Dennis Glasgow. This morning, I'm gonna a
chance to talk about hospice care, specifically with Steve Cohne,
who is the chief Communications, Marketing and Philanthropy at Capital Caring,
which provides hospice and pelative care, along with related support
services to individuals facing serious illnesses and their families in
(00:26):
the Washington, d C. Metropolitan area and surrounding regions. Here's
my conversation with Steve. Good morning, Steve, good morning, Well,
it's great to have you board Community d SCENE. I
really am looking forward to the next thirty minutes and
chatting with you about all the amazing things that you,
your team and everybody else is doing at Capital Caring Health.
But I did want to do this. I probably didn't
do a justice in the intro just now, but I
(00:48):
would love to hear about the origin story and the
history of Capital Caring because it really is amazing. I
know goes back to the late seventies, but can you
share with our listeners about how everything got started.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Capital Caring Health was one of the original fifteen hospice
organizations that began operation in the United States in nineteen
seventy seven. That was even before the Medicare legislation was
passed to cover hospice expenses, and that happened in nineteen
eighty two. So we were started by some wonderful folks
(01:18):
now forty eight years ago, and during this period of
time we have cared for roughly five hundred thousand patients
and family members and members of the community because we
provide some services to the community whereby they don't have
to have a patient relationship with us.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
So what I'd like to do before we get into
all the amazing things that you offer. It really is
truly incredible how many different things are going on there.
I'd love to talk about the mission and the vision currently.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
What are they very simple are not for profit. Mission
is to here for all at the end of life
and in certain other services, regardless of race, citizenship status,
or ability to pay. So anybody who lives in our
service area, which is what we call the DMV Washington,
d C, North Virginia in three counties of Maryland.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Everything we provide.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
In our service area is either covered by insurance or
we cover it as a not for profit through our
philanthropy efforts. Well and as I mentioned, as I mentioned
very quickly, you don't even have to be a citizen.
You just have to live in our service area for
us to provide care for you and your family.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
And you have a family.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Yeah, and I imagine that that's a very unique thing.
I don't know about other centers that maybe kind of
do what you do out there in nonprofits, but what
you do is it unique?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah? You know, I like to.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
I like to say that we're probably the only example,
the not for profit hospice world is probably the only
example in the medical world where the first question we
ask a patient and a family is not do you
have an insuranarance card? And I wish more people understood
(03:09):
that hospice care is free. It's either covered by Medicare,
Medicaid or most private insurance. And if for some reason
a patient or family or underinsured or uninsured, we provide
a capital. And this is true of other not for
profits around the country. We provide, thanks to philanthropy, around
(03:32):
two to three million dollars a year in what we
call charity care or adults and children who need hospice care.
And another thing I want to get across the folks
is you know, there's this misconception that if I am
(03:54):
all my loved one in hospice for giving up on life,
and nothing could be further from the truth. What you're
giving up on, I like to say, is a better
life for an extended period of time, because almost always,
and it's been proven over and over again, almost always,
(04:15):
if people enroll in hospice sooner versus the last few
days of their lives, they will live much longer and
be much happier than the only alternative, and the alternative
to hospice is hospitalization. Usually many hospital visits to the
(04:36):
er getting being put in a hospital room, obviously being
hooked up to a bunch of machines. Tragically, often dine
alone without family, president or friends, and hospice was created
to avoid that situation. Hospitals don't want patients dying in
the hospital. They want them back home or wherever they live.
(04:58):
So of the time hospice care is provided by us
and others in the home or wherever the patient calls home.
It can be a residence, assistic living facility, nursing home,
whatever they call home. And they live better and longer
in hospice for two major reasons. One just emotionally, they
(05:22):
feel better in familiar surroundings with family and friends able
to visit, come and go as they please. Many people
are extremely attached to their pets. This is a big thing,
whether it's during life or the end of life, and
of course they're present if they're in their home and
pets are allowed. And the other reason they live longer
(05:46):
is they're not being over medicated, which can lead to
premature death. And when someone is deemed qualified to enter
hospice care, that means the two physicians, an attending physician
and one of ours agree that best case, this person
has six months or less to live, and they again,
(06:13):
they can they can be They're much happier in their
home setting, and we're we're our mission is to make
them pain free and comfortable, not to try to cure
them anymore, which can be counterproductive at the end of
life and can lead to premature death, which which unfortunately
(06:35):
happens all too often. So hospice is a wonderful alternative
with more precious moments with family and friends where you
want to be as the patient. And then the other
unique aspect of hospice care is it's for the whole family.
If there is family and literally we we counsel the
(06:59):
family members through the patient's journey because if the patient's
not in hospice and it's hospitalizations instead, there's no one
supporting the family, which family members are usually under more
stress than the patient. Right, So it's a very important
(07:22):
part of our mission to make sure that family members
are being taken care of emotionally, and how we explain
everything that's going on in clear and concise terms so
there's no confusion about the patient's journey. And then when
the patient eventually passes. But I don't have a problem
(07:47):
saying when they die. When the patient dies, and often
that's many months after they've enrolled in hospice care if
they enroll early. When the patient dies, we provide free
bereaemen counseling to all members of the family who are
around for as long as necessary. That's free bereamen counseling
(08:11):
provided right away, versus if you're trying to find a
mental health professional as a family to help with your grief,
often there as a long waiting list of weeks or
months and the professionals have to charge for their service,
and our grief counseling is free of charge. It's not
(08:34):
covered by insurance, which is why philanthropy is so important
for us to cover that expense. And we provide bereamen
counseling for the entire community, so you don't have to
have a patient relationship with us, and so we wish
more people knew about that community service as well.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Right, well, that's why we have you here and to
get the megaphone of my heart to do all the
amazing things that you're doing with your team, you know
the other thing, And I'm glad you talked about all
those things, and I do want you to talk about
the types of care because you're starting to touch on it,
about what you offer and there's many ways and the
types of care you have. But I just want to
circle back about, you know, using your services, because one
thing that I've read in my travels of different families
(09:19):
and friends and co workers that have not used hospice,
the burden that's put on a family, especially if they're
a patient or family members at home. They're not equipped
to do that, Steve, and I don't think that they
know that because they're so need to deep in somebody
being very ill, and when they find out about you,
I know that taking that person out of the home
(09:39):
might scare them, but you just started to talk about
all the amazing things that you and your team do
and how much easier and the burden is lifted off them, right.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And it's in the home. Yeah right.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
So percent of the time, yeah, five percent of the time.
Usually in the last two or three weeks of life,
some patients need around the clock here Hospice Guity to
make sure they're as comfortable and painfree as possible. And
when that's the case, we move them into one of
(10:13):
our inpatient facilities. We have two operating at the moment,
one out near Dulles Airport in Loudon County and one
on the grounds of Civilly Memorial Hospital in northwest Washington
and so and these inpatient facilities are meant to be
(10:39):
as non hospital like as possible, so there are no
visiting hours. Family members and friends can come and visit
twenty four to seven. They can even stay with the
patient overnight or the whole time they're in our inpatient facility.
We even allow live pets, one at a time to
(11:01):
visit with the patient. And there's lots of stories about
how grateful the patient and family have been that we
allow that sort of thing, and so it's a wonderful,
very critical part of hospice care to have these inpatient
facilities for the few patients that really need them. In
(11:24):
the last few weeks, you know of life right.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Well, listen, you mentioned philanthropic and you are a nonprofit,
and I think it's a great segue for us to
talk about how you are funded. And then I do
also want to talk about volunteers because I think that's
also an important part of what you do and how
you get the help out there. So when it comes
to funding, donations and philanthropic, how does it all work?
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Right?
Speaker 2 (11:48):
So, we we are reimbsed for our hospice services through insurance,
assuming the patient and family have insurance, and a majority
of our patients are sixty five and over and are
(12:08):
enrolled in Medicare and or Medicaid, and so those hospice
costs are covered people under sixty five, most private insurance
will cover almost all of hospice costs. And as I
mentioned earlier, if for some reason the patient and or
(12:30):
family have no insurance, that's why we have our ongoing
philanthropy effort with individuals, local businesses, foundations, government entities so
that we can provide charity care, which I mentioned earlier
(12:51):
is on an annual basis somewhere between two to three
million dollars to cover those that are that don't have
for some reason insurance. And also our bereatment counseling, which
has been part of our mission since day one, is
not covered by insurance. So that's a major reason, another
(13:14):
major reason why philanthropy it's so important. And also we
get tens of thousands of hours of volunteers time, which
is also a critical part of us fulfilling our mission.
We have and I don't think this is a typical
(13:35):
but not for profit hospice world. We have more volunteers
than we have paid employees.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
And the volunteers do a number of different tasks. They
go through a pretty rigorous training program and they can
specialize in what they want to do. Do they want
to visit the patient and family in their home. Do
they want to run errands for them? Do they want
to help with housekeeping and meals? Do they want to
(14:04):
walk the pets? Do they want to provide what we
call tucking calls where they actually call the patient on
a nightly basis. If they're able to speak to see
how they're doing. And then we have a whole group
of volunteers who specialize in a very important area that
(14:29):
we're the leading provider of on the East Coast as well,
which is children's hospice. So we're the all this children's
hospice provider in the nation. We're the largest on the
East Coast, and we're considered a national center of excellence
(14:50):
for providing and of life care for kids with terminal issues.
And you know, so when a family finds out that
their child is terminal, they want them out of the
hospital as soon as possible and back home of the time,
and we have volunteers that specialize in helping those families
(15:17):
through the journey of their child. And we even have
a group called the Elf Squad at holiday time who
dress up as else and deliver gifts and Christmas trees
if they're a Christian family, or manoras if they're Jewish
or whatever, and provide all kinds of holiday cheer that
(15:44):
both physical, mental, and material for those families with kids
in our care. And they also do this we also
have other volunteers that do the same thing for our
adult patients, but the Alf squad is a very special
part of what we do for the kids.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Right well, Steve, I imagine you and I would agree
on something that when it comes to life, there's not
a manual for having a kid or getting married. And
one of the big ones in the subject matter we're
talking about is when a loved one is dying and
about where to start. And I'd love to just to
hear you know when somebody reaches out to you the
first time, and I'd like you to explain how they
(16:25):
do that, and we'll give the website a couple of
times and phone numbers and anything else that we need
to for people that are we're getting their attention right
now that might need you and your team services. But
when it comes just to reaching out and how the
process works, and I understand that every family's journey is
a little bit different, so I get that part of it,
but just in general terms, how does the whole process
work when they reach out to you?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Right well, we have a twenty four to seven phone
number which we try to promote as much as possible,
and as well as our website where they can find
the phone number and they can call at any time
and inquire about their loved one, and then we can assess.
(17:14):
We have specially trained people that answer the phones around
the clock, and then, based upon the situation, if it
seems like hospice may well be needed, we will send
one of our clinicians to the home or wherever the
person lives to make a physical assessment, and that can
(17:38):
all happen over the course of a day or two,
so it's not all lengthy, long process, nor should it be.
And by the way, that reminds me that there's a
misconception that if you enroll in hospice you're no longer
in control of your journey, and nothing could be further
from the truth. The patient can decide they don't want
(18:03):
to be in hospice any longer at any time, and
we don't restrict who can visit them, including other physicians,
we or their religious leaders that they're involved with. We
also provide non denominational chaplains and social workers as part
(18:26):
of our team for the patient and the family, and
the social worker often spends a lot of time with
family members, so it's a comprehensive service for the patient
and the family, and the patient and family are in
(18:47):
control and in fact, oh Gosh, I'll tell you about
fifteen percent of the time, we determined that the patient
has improved no longer need hospice, and so they're released
from hospice care. And I should also mention that the
(19:10):
initial hospice benefit is for six months, So if enrolled
in hospice initially, that means.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
It's a six month benefit, and then.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
At the end of that period of time, reassess if
there's still with us, should they remain in hospice or
can they no longer need it right now at least,
so it's an interactive process. The patient and family are
in control. Ultimately, they decide to enroll, and they decide
(19:49):
to stay in hospice if they wished to.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Okay and listen, Steve, I did want to circle back
to one thing because this is on the website where
people can read much more about it. But when it
comes to ways to give you you really do cover
all the bases. It's amazing and it's well thought out.
There is monthly donations, there's one time donations, tributelights, memorial gifts,
emergency relief fund, plan giving and downment opportunities. You mentioned
(20:13):
the capital carrying kids naming opportunities, attendant event, workplace giving,
donate your vehicle, thrift store, you really do kind of
it's a gambit of ways people can give back. So
I think I want to make that very clear that
it's just not one way that you can be a
part of this, right, there's many ways to do it.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Yes, you can choose what you want to support, and
reminds me of two areas that we are really focused
on that are very special. So we're the leading hospice
(20:51):
provider of companying robotic pets or three groups those suffering
from dementia where these companion robotic pets have proven through
multiple clinical studies. Plus we see this firsthand every day
(21:14):
me as well as my colleagues. When you hand a
robotic dog or cat to a person with mid to
late dementia, mid level to late level dementia, their whole
personality almost always changes for the better, I believe, sometimes
sometimes instantaneously from being agitated, confused, sometimes physically violent, which
(21:43):
is really unfortunate, but with some dementia patients that happens.
And then when they're hand and a pet, a dog
or a cat, they light up and they become calm
and you can see the joy in their this is
something that belongs to me.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
This is my pet. They almost always.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Name them, and they usually not usually sometimes they think
we're not trying to fool them in any way, but
they often think it's a pet from the past that's
come back to be with them. And these robotic pets
respond like real pets. The sites sound in touch, and
the more you interact with them, the more they interact back.
There's no upkeep, and they love you and you love
(22:32):
them back. And it also allows the caregiver and you
see this repeatedly, to leave their loved one with the pet,
you know, for an hour or two or whatever, and
they don't have to constantly be with their loved one
suffering from dementia if the pets present. And so it's
(22:54):
just a wonderful program, and we provide these pets free
of charge donations. Donations are optional and all we're always grateful,
but we provided around five thousand pets so far over
the last few years locally, regionally, and nationally for families
(23:15):
with a loved one suffering from the mention. Now, the
second purpose, which is new for us, is we also
provide the pets thanks to grants in the DMV specifically
to so far to elderly folks living alone in the
(23:37):
District of Columbia. And we know that living in isolation
with no family present and no caregiver almost either no
caregiver or rarely a caregiver for this elderly person leads
to very often very severe depression and premature mortality. And
(24:05):
these pets have proven to change their personality for the
better in overwhelming ways, Like somewhere around eighty five percent
of elders in DC who receive the pet six months
after that say they feel much better about themselves and
(24:30):
both physically and mentally, So that's a wonderful thing. And
then the third use of the pets is for children
in our care who are bedridden a large part of
the time and would like something furry and fun to
be with them, which these pets also provide that kind
(24:54):
of comfort.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
So just a wonderful.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
Part of our mission, and I'm very happy that we
haven't been spearheading this effort now going on five years.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
And then the other.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Area where philanthropy is very important is we're renovating a
third inpatient center in Arlington County, which was one of
the very first to open way back in nineteen eighty
two and we operated it for forty consecutive years and
(25:35):
now it needs a complete renovation so that we can
make it again a state of the art facility, which
it was way back then, but after forty years was
no longer and so this.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Arlington Center for Caring, we're hoping.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
To start renovating it in the early fall of this year,
and it's a big project.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Millions of dollars I've raised.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
We've raised some millions so far and we're looking for more,
so that's a major focus of ours to get the
money necessary to The goal is to open it at
the end of twenty twenty six as we enter our
fiftieth year, so then we'll be one of very few
(26:29):
hospice organizations around the country that have three inpatient centers
in operation. Most hospices have none, and about eight hundred
or so have won and there are over six thousand
hospice groups nationwide, so it's a very special thing that
(26:52):
we're able to do by maintaining these in patient centers,
which are very costly to run, we liitterly provide a
nurse for every two patients around the clock, so that's
a part of our mission. That's very special and very.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Necessary, sure, and it's very extraordinary to the growth, not
just the sustainability over the years, but my goodness and
all the money that has to go into that. Steve,
we only have about a minute half left and I'd
just like to get a recap on your thoughts. We
do want to give the website and the twenty four
to seven phone number to everybody out there as we
finish up, but maybe just what we talked about some
final thoughts from you. The floor is yours, sir.
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Denis a end of life.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
There are only two choices, hospice or hospitalization, and I
wish more people understood that the hospice benefit is in
so many ways the right route to go. Maybe not
one hundred percent of the time, but certainly ninety eight
percent of the time. Hospitals aren't set up to handle
(27:57):
end of life care. They don't want to provide it.
They want the patient to be back home or wherever
they live. And the benefit is for at least six months,
patients and family members feel so much better with us
coming to them versus them having to go to the
hospital for repeated visits. And it's a benefit that not
(28:22):
enough people utilize in the DMV of hospice utilization in Washington,
Northern Virginia and Maryland is way below the national average,
and that shouldn't be the case. So I really thank
you and your colleagues for allowing me to talk about
(28:45):
the hospice benefit which is so wonderful and so necessary
for people at the end of life that they should
embrace it, not be scared of.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
It at all.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, well, it's an education. Let's give the website and
a phone number, now, Steve.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
A website is very easy, Capitalcarring dot org Capitalcaring dot
org and the phone number is eight hundred eight six'
nine two one three. Six and if you go to
our website, homepage you'll also see another phone number which
is for out of our service, area and we actually created.
This We Capital carrying created this other number so that
(29:24):
if you have a family, member a, relative a close
friend anywhere else in the country who you think might
need hospice, care you can call that number and be
put immediately in touch with one of our sister organizations
anywhere in the. Nation so that's a wonderful benefit to
know about as.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
Well, Understanding, STEVE i can't thank you enough for your valuable.
Time please give my best to all your people, there
your literal. Angels we appreciate the education and we're glad
we could partner up with you and get just the
word out there about what's happening when it comes To
Capital Caring. Hell thank you so much for joining us
On COMMUNITY dc sure.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
Thing thank You dennis
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