With more than 40 years of experience, Carolina Caring provides patient-centered, world-class health care in a supportive environment and focuses on helping you or your loved one feel better and get the most out of life. As a non-profit, community-based hospice and palliative care provider, we provide exceptional health care teams who care for those living with serious illness.
If you are receiving palliative medicine services, your care may be delivered by Nurse Practitioners Jacqueline Brown, FNP-C, Patricia Bortnick, FNP-C, ACHPN, Tisha Fisher, FNP-C, Dustin Ford, FNP, Megan Frasure, AGNP-C, Leah Leska, FNP-BC, Robin Sherrill, FNP-C or Kelly Stockton-Drum, NP-C. If you are a hospice patient, a health care team will be assigned to assist you and your loved ones.
Most hospice and palliative medicine services are provided in a patient’s home, but services are also offered in other settings including: hospitals, assisted living centers, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, or hospice houses.
What is the Difference Between Hospice and Palliative Medicine?
Both hospice and palliative medicine address patients’ physical, emotional and spiritual needs while assisting with the daily activities of living, such as bathing or getting dressed. However, palliative medicine can begin as soon as a patient is diagnosed with a serious illness, often while still receiving treatment. Hospice begins when curative treatment turns to comfort care in the last six months of life.
Patients diagnosed with serious conditions including malignant cancers, advanced COPD, heart failure, end-stage renal failure, stroke, liver disease, Alzheimer’s and dementia and more may qualify for palliative medicine services or hospice care.
Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurances often help cover the cost of hospice and palliative care. Most people receiving hospice care use the Medicare Hospice Benefit, which covers all costs associated with a patient’s care including oxygen, wheelchairs, medical equipment and more.