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Niagara Hospice is a 501(c)(3) private non-profit organization that celebrated 15 years of caring this past year. Governed by a board of directors, the organization provides physical, emotional, and spiritual support services for individuals and families faced with terminal illness. Over 5,700 Niagara County residents as well as their immediate and extended families have been served. Niagara Hospice is the fifth largest hospice program in New York State and is chartered to serve the 218,000 residents of Niagara County. Over 700 families received care in 2003 – a 40% increase since 2000.
Our goal is to help patients live in comfort and dignity, surrounded by the warm and supportive presence of loved ones. Niagara Hospice treats the person, not the disease, and considers the patient and loved ones the unit of care. The patient’s care plan is determined by the patient, family/partner, the patient’s primary physician, and the hospice care team. The care plan establishes goals and preferences and the team works together to achieve them - emphasizing quality rather than length of life. Every effort is made to enable patients to remain at their place of residence and receive the loving care of family and friends with the support of the hospice team. Niagara Hospice provides care to individuals with a life expectancy of approximately six months or less regardless of diagnosis, age, sex, race, religion or ability to pay. Patient choices and goals are the primary focus of hospice care.
Niagara Hospice provides comprehensive pain and symptom management, and is recognized as the specialist in pain management, bereavement and palliative end-of-life care in Niagara County. Enhanced pharmacy services that include an on-site Doctor of Pharmacy Resident, contracted services from professional health care consultants (occupational, physical, respiratory, speech/audiology therapists; nutritionists; psychologists; podiatrists; dentists), help alleviate the patient’s physical pain and provide symptom control.
Niagara Hospice also boasts an enhanced bereavement program that includes 13 months of bereavement services in the form of personalized phone calls and/or supportive visits to bereaved families; a greeting card program that recognizes milestones throughout the year following the loved one’s death; and a variety of grief workshops and demographically targeted support groups that are open to the community as well. Additionally, Niagara Hospice provides an Annual Day of Remembrance service and supports the Niagara Frontier Hospice Foundation’s Light-A-Life holiday program. This past July marked the first Annual Butterfly Release to memorialize loved ones.
No individual is denied hospice care due to ability to pay. Families who are uninsured or underinsured can take comfort in the fact that hospice services are available to them, thanks to the Foundation. The Niagara Frontier Hospice Foundation (NFHF) is the fundraising arm of Niagara Hospice that relies on community support and grants to provide services for patients and families. Thanks to the Foundation, Niagara Hospice is able to consistently take on charity cases of individuals who are under-insured.
Since Niagara County has the largest percentage in New York State of people 65+, the availability of palliative hospice services is a meaningful contribution to the region’s quality of life. Niagara County residents also experience a disproportionately higher incidence of terminal diseases such as cancer and heart disease relative to other counties. To help meet the needs of these individuals and their families, Niagara Hospice has experienced a metamorphosis that has lead to unprecedented growth and established the organization as a leader in end-of-life care.
For more information, upcoming events, or volunteer opportunities contact Niagara Hospice at 716/439-4417 or visit the website at WWW.niagarahospice.org
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