Montgomery Hospice & Prince George's Hospice

I want to express my gratitude to the staff assigned to my father. We will always remember the great care, compassion, dedication and willingness to keep him comfortable and cared for along with the care extended to my Mom. Ms. Olga Williams: Thank you very much for your hard work. To the on call nurses who took our phone calls and answered all our questions: Thank you for your professionalism, consideration and knowledge as you eased the unknown. To the social workers and various on call nurses who came by: Thank you. May God continue to bless you with strength as you continue to do an amazing job in this field.

I can’t say enough good things about Montgomery County Hospice. Their kindness and compassion helped guide our family through one of the most difficult times of our lives, as we cared for my dad during his final weeks with cancer. Our nurse, Maame, was truly an angel. Her presence, care, and expertise brought us comfort and reassurance when we needed it most. As a public service, they were very clear that we would be the primary caregivers—and yet the level of support they provided was extraordinary. Any medical equipment or medications we needed arrived within a day, always at no cost. Thanks to their responsive and knowledgeable team, we never had to hire outside help, though they also walked us through how to do so, just in case. We feel incredibly fortunate to live in am area with such a dedicated, high-quality public hospice service. Their support made an unimaginable experience feel manageable, and we will always be grateful.

Thankfully, my father only needed just over a week of hospice care and it was not possible to provide it in the home (he was at a nursing home). In that time, our family met with the nurse 4 times (they came out twice on the weekend) and the social worker once. They explained everything they were seeing and responding to. When I returned to Boston, I received a call from the social worker confirming that I would like to speak to a grief counselor in the next few weeks. Their kindness and sensitivity during this very difficult time made all the difference.

It has been 3 weeks of awful suffering. There is no weekend support. There is no medical management. No doctors see patients. No doctors speak to families. There is a drop by from a nurse. Some are skilled. Some are not. You will need full time private duty support or private facility care, which may not be equipped to help a loved one at the end. Lack of knowledge by staff, extreme lack of medical and palliative options to reduce suffering. Some of it is the terrible approach to hospice in Maryland. There is almost no inpatient care. Other states are so much better. But a great portion is very poor care by Montgomery Hospice. Heartbreaking.

I watched my friend have a terrible experience with Montgomery Hospice. It took a long time for a nurse to return her calls and even longer for one to arrive when asked to come and tend to her wife. The nurses that did come were a mixed bag - some were the lovely, compassionate hospice nurse one imagines, and others were rude and dismissive to include one nurse walking in and brusquely stating "I don't even know why I'm here." and dismissing the concerns family members were sharing. The social worker assigned to their case has been aloof from the very second day of care. Meds were not ordered in a timely manner after a morning appointment - they were supposed to be delivered that same evening. Instead the person they were supposed to be caring for was left in discomfort and distress without the meds that did not arrive until the following morning once the first pharmacy run left at 11am. During the most critical time that hospice nurses were needed, no one was dispatched in a timely manner because of shift change. Literally a life-altering moment that was brushed off and ignored after several phone calls to the hospice staff because of shift change. I will caution any and all family members and acquaintances from using Montgomery Hospice. How they treated my friends is inexcusable and unforgivable.