I can't say enough of the quality care and kindness our family has received through this…read moreorganization! It is above and beyond from information, knowledge, compassion, and making us important! Thank you to all especially our nurse Mary Jane and our aide Christine who gave us the utmost care and strength and made us feel important and loved when saddest filled our world! This organization is top notch and we are fortunate for your expertise. Words can't express our gratitude. THANK YOU from our whole family. The Pope's

While the underlying condition qualifying me for end of life care continues to its inevitable…read more conclusion, my quality of life associated with it consistently demonstrates dramatic resistance with the caring professionals of this organization. . . . Even more important for me, within three months, they reduced / arrested / ended three chronic health issues which had affected me most unpleasantly for over a decade. This is not to denigrate my PCP and other specialists, but represents a depth of interest in my welfare I've seldom experienced in my entire life outside of family except for a few isolated incidents, not as an institutional culture. . . . Unless I were President with the resources of Bethesda at my call could I suggest there might be a higher standard of care than I have experienced here.

They sent my aunt 23 papers on 1/23/2026 of another person's Hospice medical papers. We don't want…read moreanother person's papers, my aunt got my dad's medical papers for me so I can tell what happened with my father. These 23 pages include the strangers deeply sensitive information such as SSN, DOB, home address, etc. They also failed to give my aunt my all of my dad's medical papers, 23 were missing in the envelope. I am concerned that some of my dad's papers were sent to someone else outside the family.

It might seem odd to review a hospice facility, but really why not?…read moreWhen it comes to the end of life, there is so much that is taboo, so much sadness, so much pain. The staff are here to help you and your loved one transition as peacefully as possible. Each room is large and equipped with a small fridge, microwave, giant bathrooms, a fold couch, a fold out chair, a cot and air mattress. Want to bring a pet in see your loved one, have at it. As a matter of fact, bring whatever will help you and your loved one settle in. There is a family kitchen with cookies, coffee, tea and water but no vending machines. There is a living room with fireplace, family meeting rooms, an outside patio with a grill, a walking path and smoking area. There are boxes of tissues everywhere. There are therapy dogs, for you as much as the residents. The house is settled in a residential neighborhood that is quiet. There are no visiting hours, you can be with your loved one on your time. The doors do lock at 8pm, but you just need to ring the bell to be let in. The staff will talk you through each and every step of this journey. They are here to guide you and assist your loved one. They are kind. They are patient. If you need a facility like this, this is a great place to be.

My brother arrived at 9pm and I tried to speak to a nurse multiple times to let them know he needed…read moremedication. We did not see a nurse till 11:30 pm. By then, my brother was highly agitated and we were unable to keep him calm. When he had to urinate, the 2 aides that came in were very harsh with him. I also told the front dest that he had a seizure before he arrived and they were going to move him closer to the nurse station. That never happened. All in all, my brother was not treated with dignity during his short stay. I would not send a loved one there.

An update. My Wife was here for 7 weeks until she passed away here. ALL the staff could not be…read morenicer or more compassionate. I have received follow-up calls from staff to find out how I am doing handling the grief that comes with losing one's life-partner of many years. You could not find a better place for your loved one to spend their last days. The people who work here are angels and truly doing G_d's work!!!

I would never in 1 million years. Use this hospice care or Service. The hospice nurse couldn't have…read morebeen more unkind, rude and took terrible care of my dying father. It was an absolute disaster. She was so unkind and rude and clearly did not know what she was doing. Run. It was inhumane.

Harborside Hospice is a company that really cares about not only their patients but also the…read morepatient's families. During my great-grandfather's final hours, Renee was there to be with him and my family got to say goodbye. Renee, Elaine, and Heather are some of the best nurses I have ever met. Highly recommend this to everyone.

Most attentive care. Staff support and compassion incredible. We have had several other hospice…read moreexperiences. None come so close to begin to compare! Thank you for making my loved one's passage so supportive

Our family can not thank Dr. Robert Cohen, RN's Sherry Meagan and Karl, Aides Lynn and Ciera…read more(Ci-Ci) as well as Lisa - the Social Worker for the love and care they provided our loved one as well as us through this painful transition. We have never experienced such caring and loving people! They made us feel that our loved one was their loved one. We can never thank you all enough for what you all have done! You all have touched our hearts deeply. Thank you for your professionalism, love and support during a very difficult time. You all made a difference and we owe you a debt of gratitude for all you did for us. God bless you all.

It's been almost 3 months since my dear friend passed away at Sawtelle and the care he received…read morestill disturbs me. I live out of state and came up to Massachusetts for two days to be with my friend. During my time visiting I notice that staff wasn't attentive as they claimed to be. Basic end of life care is such a sensitive time and if you are a patient there with no family, it's a very lonely place. I needed to track down staff several times asking for the basics. Water, coffee, soup, straw, mouth swabs, how about shaving my friend, change of a diaper. I had the time to sit with my friend, the staff did not. Two days after I returned home I received a call at 11:09am from Christa H. at the Sawtelle Hospice House informing me that my friend had passed away. When I ask Christina what was the time of my friends passing she replied, "about 20 minutes ago and I was with him". As comforting as it may sound, it was a blatant lie. When I received the official death certificate from the town of Reading, the MD who came into Sawtelle that morning documented and pronounced my friends passing at 6:00am that morning. My two stars go to the 2 social workers that were compassionate and professional. Linda B. RN and former hospice nurse.

Specifically Tyler (female) LPN being the only nurse on duty and in the building was horridly rude…read moreand refused my access to say goodbye to my aunt. I spoke with this nurse who not only broke HIPAA but when I specifically asked her whether it would be a good time to visit my aunt, she advised that I would be welcome to come visit at any time during the facility visiting hours. Upon arrival, I was accosted by this LPN and told that she had "already had to make her family leave" as my dying aunt was growing increasingly agitated because Tyler, LPN "can't be expected to keep up with all these med passes while family is in the way so now I'm playing catch up." My lovely and adored aunt passed away early the following morning and I was never allowed to relay my father's message to her before she was gone exclusively due to this LPN's "authority" in which she would not "permit" me "access to (HER) patient". This human who made ethical promise to "do no harm" did at least express that she found it "very unfortunate" that I had made the 2 hour trip (after speaking with her on the phone TWICE mind you) "for nothing". I have not yet filed a formal complaint with the agency that employs Tyler as we are still in mourning but, being a nurse myself with 10+ years of hospice experience specifically, I do intend to make the MA Board of Nursing aware of this individual's deplorable behavior in addition to holding the agency accountable for allowing a nurse holding a license that restricts her scope of lawful practice from providing imperative and ethical intervention implicitly resulting in inhumane practice supported by the agency during times when holistic and evidence based patient and their family's care and comfort are paramount in their most vulnerable and precious last days of life.

Best Care Ever! I was positively impressed the minute I…read morearrived to visit a patient. The staff was welcoming, friendly, warm and compassionate. The pace itself was clean, professionally decorated and felt truly peaceful. The grounds were well maintained and the fall foliage was gorgeous. The standout was the manner in which patients and their families are treated. There were always 3 people assigned to my loved one's care. They were all knowledgeable and ever present. The caregivers always treated the patient with respect, would give loved ones a gentle touch of support, and always appeared to enjoy their work. They protected the patient's dignity, were quick to respond to calls or requests and truly cared that the patient was comfortable. Highly recommended!!

We will forever be grateful for the care and attention provided by the staff of this wonderful…read moreplace for my wife Margaret (Peg). Highly recommended for your loved ones they will benefit from the expert and compassionate care of the entire staff and their wonderful associates. Robert Hartwell

My child's father was taken in for hospice there after being diagnosed with cancer. The staff was…read moreamazing and very caring beautiful place inside and out. I definitely would recommend this place.

A Bad Experience. We chose Care Dimensions:Kaplan House in…read moreDanvers, MA for our loved one's end-of-life care after reading and hearing positive reviews. We made a last minute decision to switch and admit during a time of crises. Unfortunately, we did not have the same experience. I am sharing this review as a warning to other families who may be making this incredibly difficult decision. Our concerns were poor communication, limited patient check-ins, and staff making assumptions rather than taking the time to understand the individual patient's needs and wishes. We often felt that a "one-size-fits-all" approach was being used rather than individualized care. We were made to feel judged.. not my words.. these were the words of an aide on duty and told to back off and let them do their job. We also felt that family input was not welcomed or adequately considered. Despite communicating our loved one's wishes to staff, those wishes were not honored in the way we expected. We did not receive a consistent daily update or helpful info. regarding her condition or prognosis, which left us feeling uninformed, helpless and lost during an extremely critical time. We also had concerns about how some nurses and LNAs interacted with us and our loved one. We received a mix of care and icy interaction. In our experience, more training appeared to be needed in compassionate communication. There was a lack of communication with patients who were still lucid and able to express themselves rather than just giving orders to the patients not taking into consideration the patient's desires or needs for comfort. Our loved one entered Kaplan House lucid and able to stand on day one. By day two, she was unable to stand. By day three, she was having hallucinations, was unable to communicate, and then passed away. We understand that end-of-life decline can happen very quickly, but the lack of communication and our concerns about whether her individual needs and wishes were being adequately addressed made an already devastating experience even harder. We also experienced what appeared to be staffing limitations. There were times when we felt there simply were not enough staff available to provide the level of attention and individualized care we expected. I realize that every family's experience may be different, and I cannot speak for anyone else. This is simply what our family experienced. My strongest advice to families considering any hospice facility is: ask questions, clearly communicate your loved one's wishes, and stay involved and insist on a daily prognosis that we did not receive. If possible, have a family member present as much as possible. Families may not realize everything that is happening when they are not there. End-of-life care is an incredibly vulnerable time. However, if you are present overnight, insist on regular staff check-ins even if you stay - especially over night. Families deserve compassionate communication, individualized care, respect for the patient's wishes, not be judged, and to feel that their concerns are genuinely heard. I sincerely hope Kaplan House takes this feedback seriously and uses it to improve communication, staffing, compassion, and individualized care for future patients and their families. We made the mistake of changing hospice agencies last minute from Lahey Health at Home to Care Dimensions. The nurse who came out from Care Dimensions to admit did not know the situation and made harmful assumptions. Her inaccurate assessment set the tone for a traumatic 3 days which continues to this day. I waited to write this review to allow the grieving process. However, the experience has left me with ongoing unsettled sadness and regret for choosing Care Dimensions. Im giving 2 stars instead of one because one of the doctors was understanding and compassionate. Unfortunately, our contact with a doctors was towards the tail end of that misfortunate journey.

I knew some people who had used Good Shepard for their family member's home-based hospice care and…read morethey all praised the organization and expressed gratitude. So when my husband needed hospice care, I turned to Good Shepard. I expected that as a non-profit organization that their resources would be fully focused on caring for the patient and the family. My son (who took intermittent family leave) and I provided all the hands on care for my husband under the guidance of the hospice nurses. My husband told me that talking to his hospice nurse and her oversight made him feel less anxious. And he was very relieved that his pain/discomfort was managed so well. He had an assigned primary nurse M-F and weekend nurses visited as needed. We had frequent visits in the last few weeks. All our calls when things were difficult in the night were managed quickly and well. I highly recommend Good Shepard to other patients and families.

If you are looking at Yelp for guidance about choosing a hospice, you probably are desperately…read moresearching while feeling the pressure of the clock ticking. Even though we had the recommendation of our mother's independent living facility, that's how it felt for our family. So, with nothing more than a 10-minute visit from a nurse who acted more as a salesperson, we signed on to Good Shepherd for at-home "care." In retrospect, of all of the regrets I've had in life, this decision tops my list. One of the main reasons we chose the path of hospice at all was because he told us that, instead of needing to call 911 and having our mother end up in the ER, we would be able to pick up the phone and have instant access to a nurse with answers. Instant often turned out to be 35-40 minutes, with callbacks from overworked, beleaguered on-call staff. When we reached out to the nurse/salesperson by email--twice--with concerns, he did not respond. When the nurse we were assigned called to schedule an initial visit, her very first words were that she had 7 other appointments at our mom's independent living facility before she could get to us. The implicit message: get in line. When we met her, she seemed exhausted, not particularly engaged or warm but competent and knowledgeable. As it turned out, she would be the highlight of our experience with GS Hospice. My sister met with a social worker and instructed her about a matter to avoid if she spoke with me. The social worker called me to "check in" and immediately raised the very issue that my sister told her to avoid. It happens that another family at our mom's independent living facility and whose own mother was also in GS Hospice care had the same social worker. Before we said a word, they described the social worker this way: "She's 12," referring to her emotional age and maturity. The social worker cheerfully called my sister later to check in, oblivious to her mistake. When my sister reminded her, the social worker burst into tears. It gets worse: When we brought these and other concerns to the CEO of the hospice, he was dismissive and defensive, suggesting that these criticisms were clouded by grief. In other words, people who are grieving aren't capable of making rational observations, a condescending and, in this case, self-serving response. GS Hospice provides the services of a grief counselor for the family. Ours called me twice. Each time, I told her I was not interested in grief counseling but the second time, I offered to provide feedback about the experience our family was having with the Hospice and revealed to her that we were planning to take our concerns to the board. The next day, the CEO wrote to my brother trying to dissuade us from contacting the board. Clearly, this counselor went to her boss and disclosed a conversation which should have been held confidential by the standards of every mental health profession. We elevated our concerns to the board. We told them we were not interested in condolences or apologies and had no interest in litigation--that our goal was simply to make sure other families did not endure the same experience. Initially, we received what seemed to be an appropriate reply that suggested they would investigate. We offered the board to call us with any questions. They never did. Instead, we received a carefully crafted reply clearly written by their lawyers absolving themselves of any responsibility. Initially, our assumption with their staff was that they had plenty of caring, compassionate, professionals and that we had simply drawn the short straw. GS Hospice is a large organization but we had naively assumed that as a nonprofit with a long history, they would be patient and family centered. Instead, they turned out to be more like their hedge-fund owned competitors: understaffed, relying on inexperienced practitioners, and responding to concerns from a legal rather than ethical perspective. No large organization is going to have a perfect staff but when leadership is lacking, the problems become systemic and the agency becomes dysfunctional, the outcome for us with GS Hospice. It cost us profoundly in the care of our mother and compounded a family crisis that comes with such a profound loss.