Hospice Care
For nearly 30 years, Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care has helped area patients and families face life's most difficult journey—the end of life. With a holistic approach to care, Caldwell Hospice serves the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the terminally ill and those they love. We recognize dying as a natural part of living, and we help patients live as pain-free and comfortably as possible, so they can enjoy each day with their loved ones.
Anyone can make a referral to Caldwell Hospice, including patients themselves, family members, friends, and clergy. We care for patients in their own homes, long-term care facilities, hospitals, or our patient care units. Hospice care is covered by Medicare/Medicaid and most private insurance companies. Because of the generosity of the community, our hospice care is provided to anyone who needs it, regardless of ability to pay.
In the Home
Most hospice care is provided in patients’ homes. A primary care person (usually a spouse, relative or friend) provides day-to-day care. Caldwell Hospice professionals provide direct care and teach caregivers how to address many of patients’ physical needs; a physician, nurse practitioner, nurse, social worker, and chaplain are on call. Medical social workers, a counselor, chaplains, and volunteers provide emotional and spiritual support.
In the Hospital
When a Caldwell Hospice patient is hospitalized, the team members will go to him or her, whether at Caldwell Memorial Hospital, Frye Regional Medical Center, Valdese Hospital, Grace Hospital, Catawba Valley Medical Center, or Watauga Medical Center. We also admit new hospice patients who are hospitalized and provide hospice care in the hospital setting. Sometimes, these patients are transferred to our patient care units, while others are discharged home or to a facility. Regardless, hospice care is provided to the hospitalized patient until his or her death.
In Long-Term-Care Facilities
We at Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care have made our services available to long-term-care facility residents who need specialized end-of-life care. Caldwell Hospice and the long-term-care facilities listed below developed a working partnership to provide specialized care and emotional support for residents and their families. Our partnership with long-term-care facilities is based on our shared beliefs that the facility is home to many patients and that these patients have the right to receive hospice care when needed. We will always place the residents and their families at the heart of these services.
Skilled Nursing Facilities: Camelot Manor Nursing and Rehab Facility, College Pines Health and Rehabilitation Center, Conover Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Gateway Rehabilitation and Healthcare, Lenoir HealthCare Center, Lutheran Home Hickory West, and Shaire Center.
Adult Care Homes: Brockford Inn, Carolina Oaks, Grandview Villa, Rose Hill Family Care Home, and Shaire Center.
Assisted Living Facilities: Lenoir Park.
Caldwell Hospice in the Long-Term-Care Facility
In our Patient Care Units
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Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care operates two inpatient units—the six-bed William E. Stevens, Jr., Patient Care Unit at Kirkwood—and the 12-bed Forlines Patient Care Unit at the Jack and Shirley Robbins Center. Both units provide acute (which includes respite care) and residential care. Acute inpatient beds are for hospice patients who require a higher level of care to manage pain or other symptoms; patients can go home once their symptoms are controlled.
During respite care, which is part of acute care, Caldwell Hospice patients stay on the patient care unit, while the caregiver rests or attends to personal matters, knowing the patient is receiving care from trained Caldwell Hospice staff.
Residential care is available for hospice patients who do not have the option of receiving care at home. Residential services provided by Caldwell Hospice 
are similar to at-home care. Room-and-board fees do apply, and residential care is not covered under the Hospice Medicare/Medicaid Benefit (HMB). Patients who need help paying for room and board may qualify for the Special Assistance for Adults Program. Patients must complete an application at the Caldwell County Department of Social Services and meet special eligibility requirements.
A registered nurse and certified nursing assistant are on duty at all times, with on-call medical social worker, chaplain, physician, and volunteer. While in the unit, patients may be cared for by their attending physician or a Caldwell Hospice physician. Each of the 18 rooms has individual temperature controls, oxygen delivery system, special air-support mattress, television and telephone, private bathroom and closet, sleeper-sofa, terrace, and access to a courtyard, shower facilities for family members, and a chapel, open 24 hours a day.
Cardiac Care at Home
When finding comfort at home becomes a priority, hospice patients living with advanced cardiac disease turn to Caldwell Hospice’s Cardiac Care at Home program to improve quality of life and live each day fully.
Our team of professionals, including nurses specially trained in cardiac care, provides:
- Consultations with the patient’s own doctor
- Nursing visits-wherever the patient calls home—to assess for pain and control symptoms
- Special in-home comfort care kits to control symptom crisis
- Symptom management and monitoring to decrease emergency situations
- One-on-one training to educate and increase caregiver confidence
- Referral to community resources
- 24-hour on-call registered nurse, physician, medical social worker, and chaplain
To learn more about this program download our brochure, Cardiac Care at Home.
