Patients choose home for Hospice Care

We are sincerely sorry for not communicating sooner about our decision to temporarily suspend inpatient care at Close to Home Hospice House. Please know that patients are still receiving hospice care in the community.

In fact, the majority of hospice patients in Campbell County, Wyoming and surrounding communities choose to receive hospice care in their home. National statistics show that 99.2% of patients choose to receive care at home. Home can be a private residence, assisted living, group home or nursing home. In the recent months this trend has become even more prevalent. One reason may be that the COVID-19 pandemic has families choosing to be home more than ever. We also believe that the economic climate may have impacted families' ability to be home and provide the 24-hour care needed for their loved one.

The low census at the Hospice House is a cause for concern because the nurses and nursing assistants that work there have had to use vacation or paid-time-off time to continue to receive a paycheck. Additionally, with Campbell County Health staff becoming ill or being quarantined due to an exposure, we have had to ask employees to work in other areas of the organization to provide patient care. Because of these staffing issues, we made the difficult decision to pause, and suspend admissions to the Hospice House until early November. Specifically, this allowed us to keep the employees who work in the Hospice House working and fill a need elsewhere in the organization.

Hospice patients that need the 24-hour care provided at the Hospice House have been and will be cared for at The Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center. While visiting is restricted at The Legacy, hospice patients may have up to two in-person visitors who pass the COVID-19 screening protocol.

We appreciate the unique relationship we have with the Campbell County Healthcare Foundation (CCHCF). CCHCF donors and volunteers, with help from CCH, built Close to Home in 2010. CCHCF manages the Hospitality wing of Close to Home, and CCH manages the Hospice services. Inpatient hospice care is provided in the Hospice Wing of Close to Home and administrative services for CCH Hospice and Home Health are located in the lower level of Close to Home.

We recognize the impact and compassion the donors and volunteers of the CCHCF have for our citizens, healthcare and particularly hospice. We know end-of-life discussions are not easy and when one of our neighbors begins this journey the decisions can be overwhelming. We also know that donors and volunteers give time and money to help ease the financial burden hospice patients and their families encounter. Because of this, patients and families are able to travel the end-of-life journey with dignity, comfort and quality.

We value our community and business relationships and will continue to work toward strengthening our partnerships with all of you moving forward in both certain and uncertain times.

Sincerely,

Colleen Heeter, RN, BSN, MBA
CEO
Campbell County Health