NorthCare Hospice & Palliative Care Review

We chose KC Hospice because it was the largest provider on a very short list of approved companies my Mother's insurance company considered in-network. Bridget was our first point of contact during the initial interview. She impressed us with her caring, compassion, and thorough answers. We were sold.

However, it was a disaster from there on. I will say the equipment was delivered within a day, so that was good. But what were supposed to be the most peaceful days of my Mother's life were made very stressful for all of us by KC Hospice.

Issue #1 : Coordination of pain medications. My Mother was home for 4.5 hours before her medications were delivered. She was starting to come round and was distressed, uncomfortable and irritable. The hospice nurse, who arrived a few hours after she came home, stayed with us for over 2 hours waiting for the drugs to arrive. They kept blaming it on the pharmacy company but honestly, the coordination of the timing falls squarely on KC Hospice.

Issue #2 : Missing supplies. We kept hearing about a 'comfort kit' but never saw one. It was never delivered and my Mother died before we ever received it. The nurse who tended to my Mom in her dying hours was desperately looking for this comfort kit because she needed some of the medications to soothe my Mom. No comfort kit ever delivered so again, they dropped the ball causing my Mom and our family additional, unnecessary stress and discomfort.

Issue #3 : Equipment haul away. It took over a day and half for them to pick up the equipment. You can imagine how distressing it is to lose a loved one and have to sit in a living room full of the hospice bed and equipment while you are trying to grieve. We were BEGGING them to come and take the equipment. They couldn't help. The coordination was lacking completely as was the communication between the Hospice workers and the equipment company.

The nurse who tended to my Mom during her final hours was a nice lady and we were comfortable with her for the most part. She handled my Mom gently and with dignity. She was calm and collected and was able to answer all of our questions with certainty. She is the only reason I can give KC Hospice higher than a one-star on this review.

I voiced my complaints with a member of the management team. I hope they improve and take this feedback on board going forward. For now, I would not recommend KC Hospice to anyone.

Amazing company in KC that specializes in personalized care practices to help your loved ones. Great staff and friendly personnel

My 29 year old son was admitted to Kansas City Hospice on February 22, 2014. This was the worst possible experience! My son was weak but mobile, spent 2 months + at KU med ctr (they were amazing). Due to my son's illness, alcohol related, there were a lot of family dynamics. Staff was very disrespectful to me and much of the time to my son. Never explained anything they did to my son or I. Son was actually improving, and was wanting to be dismissed but they discouraged this. When I took it upon myself to call his Dr., his Dr. came in personally and agreed to discharge and follow him, his improvement was likely related to nutrition and increased activity. However, hours prior to his leaving hospice and coming home, he threw a blood clot and passed. I had requested some prophylactic, comfort treatments several days prior to this and was refused. Pain meds and anxiety meds were all they could do. No anti thombolitic stockings, no heparin, no diurectics. If they would have listened to me or noticed the fact that my son had begun urinating and his yellow color was improving, his cognition had drastically improved, my son would possibly still be alive. I truly believe they can only safely care for those for are already on deaths door step and that is probably what they should stick to.

My mom was placed on Palliative care, and the first nurses visit the nurse spent 5 mins with her before she decided my mom needed to be on hospice, but since my mom is still on dialysis she doesn't qualify. From day one the nurse tried to pressure us into stopping dialysis, which I told her my mom wasn't ready to do, because she's not ready to die yet. We were instructed to call the nurse if she became ill, and get further instruction as to what to do. She got sick, I called and the FIRST thing she said, was "In my opnion she needs to go on hospice..." So I told her that was not an option and to see what her Dr. Recommended to do. The Dr. Said ER.. took her and she got treated and sent home doing better, but when the hospital tried to start service again they refused!! So i guess if your not ready to basically kill your loved one, they don't deserve to be treated with care!

Simply the best experience possible. They treated the whole family with such kindness!

I had a wonderful experience with Kansas City Hospice. During our darkest days they supported us in loving ways, and relieved my husbands pain so well, that I did not know was possible. I am so glad I chose Kansas City Hospice!

I had written a review almost a year ago, and it is no longer visible. If KC Hospice tries to get this one removed, please do not remove it. My family used their services from June 1, 2011 -June 21, 2011. We had a very bad, very damaging, experience thanks to an unprofessional social worker. I am a social worker, so I know whereof I speak. She was manipulative, tried to impose her will on our family, and turned a volatile situation into WW III. Having a loved one that is dying puts people in an incredibly vulnerable position. Social workers are never supposed to make judgements or try to force their idea of what needs to happen onto clients. They are never supposed to coerce. The fallout from this situation was devastating, not the least to the person who was dying. I have since heard others complain about KC Hospice taking on more cases than they could reasonably handle. SHOP AROUND, there are many hospice agencies. Choose carefully. And don't forget, you can discharge any hospice, for any reason. Then you can hire another one, as we did.

We were new to hospice..since the start of the services we have not been treated well..as instructed by my dads physician we call 911 when he has a seizure.becsuse of the dangerous kind he has..being new to thr hospice philosophy we were not used to allow him to seize go into status and just die in front of our eyes...i was called and chatised..belittled and insulted by the staff of kc hospice because of the choice i made to call 911...initially i was told after the third or forth time i called 911 i would be released but this was my first time so y now had the policy changed..i did ask was race a factor in their decision to release me...i was told i didnt have a hospice mentality..but with knowing me a week how would they know my mentality..then they tried to force me to sign a dnr...i told them it was against my religion to do so..they said we would not b accepted back without it..then they accepted us back.but called back next day and said they changed their mind again because i said they were racist..which i did not say i asked a question based on the fact i know a white family who called 911 for their loved one amd was not released..so i spoke to Gloria now they are changing the reason for the forth time and said i had problems with the care staff..which i never had any problems whatsoever with any staff that came to care for my dad..i xpoke to gloria last week and told her i liked each nurse that came..it was just no continuity of care and important medical info was not being passed with 5 different nurses coming..this was such an uncaring group of supervisors..i was disrespected showed no empathy by people who r to to show some type of concern 4 families losing loved one..they r so immuned to death that kc hospice has lost compassion..and forget these are our loved ones dying..
Nothing was done right..my dad NEVER got his medication...he NEVER got his feed...important notes about my dads needs were never passed to appropriate caregiver . .resulting in below standard care..they didnt receive the notes or material needed to care for his wounds..because within a week and a half 5 different nurses came out..none of them received the info which should ne a in house protocol to have reports given...we had little or no supplies for my dad feeding tube..i was told to wash out the bags and tubes and reuse..as if i didnt have enough to do..after so many times reusing the tube broke ..he was scheduled to get 3 baths a week..one week he only got one..thats only because i had to call 3 times..i was not called back when promised..was given wrong info several times about his medication..its like everyone was new and noone knew what they were doing....things were not ordered like they were suppose to..so if they are mistrested white families like this maybe they are not racist just unprofessional..unorganized and mismanaged...kc hospice is not a good organization for anyone going through this process..they have added stress to our lives
..my dad had to stay in hospital longer due to them not taking him back..they difinetely should be working with animals with the type of support and care we reveive......if u were not racist why not just say thst..why lie on me say i had problem with caregiver..but provide details...u came up with 4 reasons the real reason i exposed you...where is my dads feed..guess u wanted him to starve to death..

This was the worst choice I ever made in life. My mother received neither comfort nor care. My family will be forever traumatized...