Hospice Care

Tidelands Community Hospice’s care and services are available to all regardless of financial status or life situation. No one is ever turned away. Its hospice care involves a team-oriented approach combining medical care, pain and symptom management, and emotional, spiritual and social support expressly tailored to each patient’s and family’s needs and wishes. We provide the care, services, and support needed by our patients and families where they live, be it in their own home, a relative’s home, a nursing home, or an assisted-living facility.

Comprehensive Hospice Support

Hospice Care Team

Hospice Care is compassionate care for terminally ill patients. We are dedicated to supporting the emotional and spiritual needs of each patient according to his or her wishes. Here at Tidelands Community Hospice, we see patients regardless of their diagnosis, age, race, nationality, physical capabilities, and/or reimbursement source.

Social Work and Emotional Support

Our team of dedicated social workers provides emotional support. The team educates families about patient care and encourages realistic expectations and confidence around numerous complicated end-of-life issues. Our social workers also act as liaisons between families and a wide variety of relevant community resources.

Spiritual Support

Spiritual support is available for those confronting the hopes, uncertainties, and fears that typically accompany the end of this physical journey. At Tidelands Community Hospice, these delicate issues can be shared and explored openly. Our non-judgmental staff is prepared to address each patient’s individual spiritual interests and the needs of his or her loved ones.

Personal Care

Additional practical support is provided by our hospice aides. Whether bathing patients, assisting with routine family activities, or providing timely respite for fatigued caregivers, our aides play key roles in the hospice experience.

Volunteer Services

At Tidelands Community Hospice, our volunteers are the heart of our mission, bringing comfort, support, and companionship to patients and their families across Georgetown, Horry, and Williamsburg counties.

We offer specialized training for each type of volunteer service to ensure you feel prepared and supported. Your time and talents can have a lasting impact, providing hope and care to those who need it most. To learn more about how you can get involved, please contact us or apply using the link below.

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Bereavement Services

Grieving the loss of a loved one is a deeply personal and challenging journey, and no one should have to face it alone. At Tidelands Community Hospice, we offer compassionate grief support services to help individuals and families find comfort and healing during their time of loss. Our free programs create a safe, understanding space where participants can share their emotions, connect with others, and develop coping skills that promote well-being. Many services are available to the community, not just families who have used Tidelands Community Hospice services.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is hospice care?

Hospice focuses on caring, not curing, and in most cases care is provided in the patient’s home. Hospice care also is provided in freestanding hospice centers, hospitals, nursing homes, and other long-term care facilities. Hospice services are available to patients of any age, religion, race, or illness. Hospice care is covered under Medicare, Medicaid, most private insurance plans, HMOs, and other managed care organizations.

How does hospice care work?

Typically, a family member serves as the primary caregiver, and when appropriate, helps make decisions for the terminally ill individual. Members of the hospice staff make regular visits to assess the patient and provide additional care or other services. Hospice staff is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Our hospice team develops a care plan that meets each patient’s individual needs for pain management and symptom control. The team usually consists of:

• The patient’s personal physician
• Hospice Physician (or medical director)
• Nurses
• Home Health Aides
• Social Workers
• Chaplain & Bereavement Coordinator
• Volunteer Coordinator and Trained Volunteers

What services are provided?

Among its major responsibilities, the interdisciplinary hospice team:
• Manages the patient’s pain and symptoms
• Assists the patient with the emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects of dying
• Provides needed drugs, medical supplies, and equipment
• Coaches the family on how to care for the patient
• Makes short-term inpatient care available when pain or symptoms become too difficult to manage at home, or the caregiver needs respite time
• Provides bereavement care and counseling to surviving family and friends

When is the right time to ask about hospice?

Now is the best time to learn more about hospice and ask questions about what to expect from hospice services. Although end-of-life care may be difficult to discuss, it is best for family members to share their wishes long before it becomes a concern. This can greatly reduce stress when the time for hospice is needed. By having these discussions in advance, patients are not forced into uncomfortable situations. Instead, patients can make an educated decision that includes the advice and input of family members and loved ones.

How does hospice care begin?

Typically, hospice care starts as soon as a patient’s doctor makes a formal request or a “referral.” Often a hospice program representative will make an effort to visit the patient within 48 hours of that referral, providing the visit meets the needs and schedule of the patient and family/primary caregiver. Usually, hospice care is ready to begin within a day or two of the referral. However, in urgent situations, hospice services may begin sooner.

Will I be the only hospice patient that the hospice staff serves?

Every hospice patient has access to a hospice registered nurse, social worker, home health aide, chaplain, and volunteer (also known as the interdisciplinary team). For each patient and family, the interdisciplinary team writes a care plan with the patient/family that is used to make sure the patient and family receive the care they need from the team. Typically, full-time registered nurses provide care to about a dozen different families. Social workers usually work with about twice the number of patients/families as nurses. If needed, home health aides, who provide personal care to the patient, will visit most frequently.

All visits, however, are based on the patient and family needs as described in the care plan and the condition of the patient during the course of illness. The frequency of volunteers and spiritual care is often dependent upon the family request and the availability of these services. Travel requirements and other factors may cause some variation in how many patients each hospice staff serves.

Does hospice provide 24-hour care?

How does the hospice work to keep the patient comfortable?

Many patients may have pain and other serious symptoms as illness progresses. Our hospice staff receives special training to care for all types of physical and emotional symptoms that cause pain, discomfort and distress. Because keeping the patient comfortable and pain-free is an important part of hospice care, many hospice programs have developed ways to measure how comfortable the patient is during the course of their stay in hospice. We work with physicians to make sure that medication, therapies, and procedures are designed to achieve the goals outlined in the patient’s care plan. The care plan is reviewed every 14 days to make sure any changes and new goals are in the plan.

Can I be cared for by hospice if I reside in a nursing facility or other type of long-term care facility?

Hospice services can be provided to a terminally ill person wherever he or she lives. This means a patient living in a nursing facility or long-term care facility can receive specialized visits from hospice nurses, home health aides, chaplains, social workers, and volunteers, in addition to other care and services provided by the nursing facility. The hospice and the nursing home will have a written agreement in place in order for the hospice to serve residents of the facility.

Do state and federal reviewers inspect and evaluate hospices?

Yes. There are state licensure requirements that must be met by hospice programs in order for them to deliver care. In addition, hospices must comply with federal regulations in order to be approved for reimbursement under Medicare. Hospices must periodically undergo inspection to be sure they are meeting regulatory standards in order to maintain their license to operate and the certification that permits Medicare reimbursement.

How is hospice care paid for?