Your Hospice Care Team

Hospice of Chattanooga provides high-quality care personalized for each patient. We understand that each person who is under our care is an individual with their own unique set of circumstances. That is why you will always see our care teams working to tailor our medical, emotional and spiritual support to the specific needs of each patient and family.

Once a patient is admitted into the care of Hospice of Chattanooga, that patient is assigned a hospice care team that includes the following people:

• Hospice physician: A Hospice of Chattanooga physician oversees the hospice patient’s plan of care.  We have 8 full-time physicians currently on our staff. All of the physicians at Hospice of Chattanooga have expertise in the medical and psychosocial aspects of hospice care. The hospice physician visits the patient in his or her home and works with the entire Hospice of Chattanooga care team to ensure the patient is not in pain and the symptoms of the terminal disease remain under control. Hospice of Chattanooga encourages patients to continue working with their primary care physician if the patient desires to maintain that relationship.

• Registered nurse: The registered nurses employed by Hospice of Chattanooga are trained in hospice and palliative care. All possess pain management expertise and understand how to relieve the suffering associated with a life-limiting illness. Our nurses make regularly-scheduled visits to the patient’s home and our on-call nursing team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in case of emergencies. In addition, the nurses at Hospice of Chattanooga provide patient and family education, as needed.

• Certified nurse assistant: Our qualified certified nursing assistants provide a wide range of personal care services for hospice patients, under the direction and supervision of one of the registered nurses at Hospice of Chattanooga.  Duties include feeding a patient, administering medications, helping keep patients clean, etc.

• Social worker: All of the social workers employed by Hospice of Chattanooga have an advanced degree in this field.  They provide emotional support to hospice patients and their loved ones through individual and group counseling. Our social workers offer guidance to help patients better utilize all available Medicare, Medicaid, and/or private insurance benefits. If a family needs additional financial assistance, our social workers will identify and access community resources on the family’s behalf.  They also assist with completing advance directives, funeral planning, and family education.

• Chaplain: A chaplain is available to each patient upon request.  Spiritual distress can be just as agonizing as physical pain. Our chaplains offer spiritual support for both the terminally-ill individual and the family. They also assist with funeral arrangements and memorial services as needed.

• Grief counselor: Hospice of Chattanooga provides comfort and assistance to loved ones dealing with grief for at least 13 months following the hospice patient’s death. Our bereavement services are extensive and include individual counseling, ongoing grief support groups, and quarterly memorial services. All of the bereavement counselors employed by Hospice of Chattanooga have extensive education and expertise in grief management and counseling. Their services are free of charge.

• Volunteer: Volunteers are the heart and soul of the Hospice of Chattanooga team. All of our volunteers receive specialized training to provide companionship and support to hospice patients and their families.  Each Hospice of Chattanooga patient is assigned a hospice volunteer who is available to sit with the patient, run errands, and perform household chores among other duties.

By assigning a hospice care team to each of our patients, it is the hope of Hospice of Chattanooga that the same hospice team members visit each week. That being said, sometimes our staff will request time off due to an unexpected illness, a planned vacation, etc. In those situations a different hospice team member will provide care until the assigned team member returns.