Suncoast Hospice
When most people think of hospice care, they think of care provided during the last weeks or days of someone’s life. However, patients and families can actually benefit much more by getting to know hospice earlier. And when they get to know Suncoast Hospice, they discover that our medical and emotional support services go far beyond what they imagined.
We believe the most life-affirming thing you can do is seek assistance and comfort for yourself or a loved one. Since 1977, our focus has been supporting anyone who has an advanced illness or is nearing the end of life or experiencing grief. We help patients live as comfortably and meaningfully as possible and offer assistance to their families and caregivers along the way.
Care Centers
Sometimes pain or symptoms become too severe or acute to manage or resolve at home and that can be distressing. Thankfully, there is refuge. The three Suncoast Hospice Care Centers, also known as inpatient centers, provide treatment, monitoring and control of pain and symptoms for our hospice patients. Our goal is to help them regain comfort and eliminate unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital stays.
Each center is staffed 24/7 by skilled medical teams who develop individualized plans of care as soon as patients arrive. Care includes treatment; integrative services (massage, aromatherapy, pet visits, Reiki and music) provided by our specially-trained palliative arts volunteers; comforting items; and family caregiver training. The atmosphere of compassionate care, calmness and convenience helps comfort entire families.
Integrative Medicine
Integrative medicine brings much needed comfort to our hospice patients who are in pain and distress through a combination of conventional medicine and evidenced-based complementary practices. At the Suncoast Hospice Integrative Medicine Clinic, our team of expert clinicians and specially-trained palliative arts volunteers blends the best of all modalities, focusing on treating the whole person – body, mind and spirit – in a soothing, caring environment. Volunteers also may work with patients in their homes, long-term care facilities or the Suncoast Hospice Care Centers.
Services include:
- Acupuncture
- Massage therapy
- Reiki
- Music
- Aromatherapy
- Mind-Body Practices
Symptoms Relief includes:
- Pain
- Nausea
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Depression
- Constipation
- Breathing
- Side effects from chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments
Veterans Programs
Few people know service and sacrifice quite like veterans. And as much as they have taken care of us, Empath Health believes in caring for them with specialized care, honor and support.
Across our network of care, we aim to serve all veterans in our community, including those with unique medical, social, spiritual and emotional needs related to their military service and service-connected health conditions. Our teams work to understand each veteran’s personal goals and needs and provide care and services that help achieve comfort and peace. Families of veterans also receive support, guidance with decision making and connections to beneficial resources. Because they too have sacrificed.
Services include trained veteran volunteers, military service recognition ceremonies, the We Honor Veterans program, Veterans History Project and Honor Flight of West Central Florida.
Veterans Serving Veterans
Our trained veteran volunteers bring their military experiences to serving fellow veterans in our care. Through a shared common language and cultural bond, veteran volunteers provide a great deal of companionship, support and honor to the veterans and their families.
Veterans History Project
The Veterans History Project collects first-hand accounts of combat-era veterans’ military experiences for future generations. Our specially-trained volunteers and staff interview veterans we serve and their video or audio recordings are submitted and archived in the Library of Congress. Participants receive copies of their interviews, certificates of participation and a record of where their stories are archived.
We Honor Veterans
Suncoast Hospice is a Level Four Partner of We Honor Veterans (WHV), a National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization program in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We are committed to WHV’s mission of respectful inquiry, compassionate listening and grateful acknowledgment of the veterans we serve. Working with the VA, veteran service organizations and other community partners, we are able to provide many specialized services that honor and support veterans.
Honor Flight of West Central Florida
The Honor Flight® Network transports American war-era veterans to their memorials in Washington, D.C. free of charge. Top priority is given to veterans in hospice care and/or of the World War II period. As a partner of the Honor Flight of West Central Florida hub, we can help facilitate the application process and assist with coordinating flights for veterans in our care. And for those veterans who are not healthy enough to travel to Washington, D.C., we have hosted the Honor Flight at Home events that recreate the trip experiences.
- Physician and nursing services
- Any necessary short-term inpatient care
- Integrative medicine
- Physical, speech and occupational therapy
- Social work, counseling and spiritual care
- Specialized care for veterans
- Dietary counseling
- Trained hospice volunteers
- Grief and loss counseling
- Pet Peace of Mind Program