Hospice Use in Maine Growing

The Bangor Daily News writes about hospice use in Maine, which ranks among the lowest in the nation. Reporter Meg Kelly tells the story of two patients in the service of New Hope Hospice, Dwight Smith, 75, who has lung cancer, diabetes and other conditions, and Dr. Robert Weiss, 90, who is dying from pulmonary hypertension. Weiss is pleased with the care he is receiving:

Every weekday morning a certified personal care provider from New Hope Hospice comes to visit Weiss. She helps him shower and dress, fixes his breakfast and cleans up the kitchen, makes his bed and tidies the bathroom. She leaves a light lunch in the refrigerator when she goes.

Once or twice a week, a registered nurse comes by — often it’s Valerie McDougal, the same nurse who checks up on Dwight Smith.

"I told her I was getting a sore on my right hip from sleeping on that side all the time," Weiss recalled. "She picked up the phone and that afternoon I had a new foam mattress. I’ve slept comfortably ever since."

He finds that degree of attention and responsiveness reassuring, and knows that as his disease progresses, the level of support from the hospice agency will keep pace.

"There’s a nurse on call 24 hours a day who will come here if I need her. She won’t tell me to call 911 and go to the hospital," Weiss said. "There is nothing I need they won’t get. I’ve never had more caring service."

Kelly reports that hospice use in Maine is growing, despite its low level of use compared to other states.

Maine is one of just a handful of states to require private insurers to include hospice care among the benefits they provide, thanks to 2001 legislation that also increased Medicaid funding for hospice and paved the way for the building of Maine’s lone residential hospice facility, which is located in Scarborough.