VITAS Healthcare Inpatient Hospice Unit

Me and my mom want to give a shout out to Vitas healthcare in general, especially to our nurse at Nazareth, Mrs. Dolores. HUGE shoutout to our main home care nurse Grayson, who has had wonderful bedside manner. He is kind, empathetic, compassionate, and thoughtful; even calling and checking in during his off hours. We consider him our family member now LOL. Thank you to Dr. Katsoff and her honesty and support despite being top of her superiors, she makes time to check in on her patients.Their support is what makes my mother‘s quality of life much better than it’s been in years.

My mom came here basically to pass away. I see some bad reviews, but our experience has been very good so far. A little bit of confusion in the beginning, but that was because Jefferson took forever to send over her orders. Once the orders were received, everything is going very well. She gets her pain meds on time, and everyone has been very friendly and taking good care of my mom. So, in short. I have nothing negative to say about VITAS.

We chose VITAS hospice for my mom after hearing positive things, and our initial meeting made us feel confident in our decision. Unfortunately, the care she received was deeply disappointing. When my mom arrived from the hospital, many of her medications were not available and had to be ordered, leaving her suffering from severe vomiting, pain, and restlessness. Overnight staffing was minimal, and response times were slow. At one point after my mom soiled her bed sheets, a nurse even handed me sheets and expected me to change my mom’s bed myself. Throughout the night, I repeatedly asked for help managing my mom’s symptoms but received little assistance. I also discovered her medical information spread out at the nurses’ station where anyone could see it. I am a health insurance broker and know this is a serious privacy concern under HIPAA. Later, when my mom was clearly declining, we asked about a chaplain because she was a devout Catholic and wanted last rites. We were told the chaplain was unavailable and that there was “no reason” for one because my mom was not dying. She passed just hours later. After she chose sedation to ease her suffering, she continued vomiting and risked choking. When we requested a suction machine, the nurse brought it in was kind enough to set it up but then handed it to my sister-in-law (who is a nurse elsewhere) and left the room. She had to operate it herself so my mom wouldn’t choke. No family should have to go through that. The only positive part of this experience was Jackie, the daytime nurse on the day my mom passed. She was compassionate, attentive, and proactive with my mom’s care. Jackie showed the kind of care we had hoped for from the beginning. Overall, this was the worst care my mom received during her 4½-year battle with cancer. Hospice should provide comfort and dignity at the end of life. Sadly, that was not our experience.

Terrible. I dont even know how there are so many good reviews for this place. Ive never felt so alone in all my life. My father came home on hospice last Tuesday with heart failure. They were unorganized with his medications and ended up having him be without for a whole day then they sent them to the local pharmacy. People in this company always seem try to pass the buck onto other people then it never gets done. My dad got a uti and started acting very restless and confused. I called and a nurse was supposed to come out to my house to check on him but instead she just called with some half cracked info because she was too lazy to come out. And on the weeekends you are totally alone. No nurses, no aids, NOONE. Unless you want the sloppy half cracked on call nurse to not help you when you call. Also when you call they make you tell your story to 3 different people before they actually offer help which is very stupid and annoying. My fathers bed is terrible! And it stunk like poop when they 1st brought it in the house. It was very used along with the rest of their supplies. This has veen a terrible experience, as if sitting her watching my father pass wasnt bad enough, getting stuck with a trash hospice company added to the mess. Choose a different company if you can.

My Father received hospice care at Vitas in Northeast Philadelphia this fall. His stay was very brief and he passed away there. The staff were very professional and kind. The follow up after my Father's passing was very much appreciated. Choosing hospice care is not an experience I wish on anyone but Vitas was a place where you can feel safe bringing your family for care.