Beacon Hospice was an absolute blessing to our family during one of the hardest times of our lives…read more They cared for my grandma with so much compassion, dignity, and respect, and they supported us just as much as they supported her. Every nurse, aide, and staff member we worked with was kind, patient, and truly attentive. They took the time to explain things, checked in often, and made sure my grandma was comfortable and never felt alone. It never felt rushed or clinical, it felt personal. What stood out most was how much they genuinely cared. They treated my grandma like a person, not a case, and that meant everything to our family. In such an emotional and overwhelming time, having a team we could trust brought us so much peace. I will always be grateful for the care Beacon Hospice provided. I can't recommend them enough to families who are navigating hospice care for a loved one.

Beacon Hospice provided the most outstanding care in the toughest time. Everyone I interacted with…read morewas very knowledgeable and understanding as well as informative. Truly some of the best staff.

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.

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.

I can't say enough good things about Always Here! From my very first interaction with Brooke to…read morethe aides they send us. They are professional, thoughtful, caring. We have worked with Always here since early 2020 to assist my 101 yr old mum. She gets around well for her age, she has become quite forgetful and needs more and more assistance. They have been able to scale up and down very quickly depending on our needs. The support helps my mum and my sister, the primary caregiver. The service is costly, but we are getting what we pay for. Thank you to the team!!

Always Here is exactly who you want taking care of your family. We tried a different home care…read moreservice before Always Here, and the difference was astonishing. Brooke (President) and Katie (Case Manager) were compassionate, flexible, and helpful. They found ways to increase the number of care hours when my mother's condition worsened suddenly. They helped continue care safely when my parents were exposed to covid by another care service. And the caregivers they engaged were more than caregivers. They became friends and family to my father, which was especially meaningful at a time when everyone is isolated due to the pandemic. I highly recommend Always Here!

Visiting Angels are great people to work with. They are very responsive to requests and able to…read moreprovide advice and help tailored to our mother's needs.

I use Visiting Angels to look after my mother while I live overseas. So far I am overwhelmed at…read morethe response my mother has had to the quality of care she receives. The people who look after my mother are incredibly kind and loving. We've used other agencies and had other folks in our home that are just there to go through the motions... Visiting Angels provide TRUE companionship for the elderly. They talk, the listen, they care and the respond. Most importantly for me is that I have a great caseworker who keeps me in the loop with things that occur in the house. She is a great resource for suggestions on how to handle tricky situations and also a great resource to coordinate things like food deliveries and other things that take place in the house while I am away. If you are reading this you have a loved one that needs support, it is a stressful situation and you sometimes feel like anything you do will be a mistake. I'm here to say that Visiting Angels eliminated so much of that anxiety for my family. Please engage with them and see how they can do the same for you.

I was inpatient and outpatient. I couldn't have asked for…read morebetter on either! Inpatient has a commitment requirement that the patient will participate in physical rehabilitation for three hours every day. I found this immensely beneficial, since some places just leave you doing little or nothing every day. The rooms look like The Four Seasons Hotel! I was in a room of my own...all hardwood, large windows with water views, a nurse with no more than seven patients. Lots of rehabilitation work, but everyone is very attentive. My nurse was phenomenal. There are no meal menus. An attendant comes to your room with a wheeling computer cart, and reads you menu suggestions, but you are always free to voice your own choices and wishes. Food was delicious. There's so much detail to every single thing here! If you HAVE to be somewhere, it's a terrible catastrophe, but being at Spaulding, Charlestown is the best!

Know nothing about Alzheimers patients or elderly! They don't even make sure they get their meals…read more Patient left alone in room in shitty diapers and urine. They just don't care. They are worse than the typical bad nursing homes with stupid nurses. My friend Tom Vance was ignored and given sub par therapy. Now they decided they want him out.

The team here was incredible in helping my friend through a serious mental health and addiction…read morecrisis. They were compassionate, professional, and truly cared. My friend was treated with dignity and given the tools and support to start a real recovery. I'm so grateful for everything they did -- this place changes lives.

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The update is that there is no update. It has now been 4 years since my father has been on Mass…read moreHealth. Zelma Lacey House still does not accept his entire Mass Health benefit as payment for his rent. They still say that he needs to be in a special room for that. They still have not put him in that room (and the idea that he would need to move for that is unfair anyway). So they are still charging full rent minus a discount for getting his full Mass Health benefit, and asking his family to cover the very substantial difference. Shameful. The reason this is two stars instead of zero is that he's still happy there. He likes the staff, the residents, the food and the activities, and I have no complaints about the care he gets, only about the financial situation.

For the past 8 yesrs, my relative lived at Zelma Lacey House. Having a number of physical and…read morevisual impairments which might have limited her participation in every day activities, ZLH went out of their way to include her with other house members and to make her feel welcome and at home. She was part of a bigger family there. They knew her favorite foods, music, and passions (the Red Sox). After being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing debilitating treatments, I was unsure she could continue to remain there. The staff assured us over and over again that she could stay there until the end, after all this was her "home". Each and every member of the staff was like family, always positive and helpful to the very end. They were there for all our family in ways I would have never expected. They put their hearts and souls into their jobs and she was the beneficiary of their dedication. I found them all to be amazing. Their kindness will never be forgotten.

My experience with Seasons Hospice is that they support the Health Care Proxy only and do not…read moresupport family members. They will not talk with you, return your phone calls or emails. When I called looking for someone to talk with confidentially about my own anguish they put me in touch with the social worker who after we spoke, called the health care proxy and broke confidentiality and told them of my call to them. I have no idea how my mother is doing except through the health care proxy who is not able to keep me fully informed. The nursing facility where she is has been shut down for 3 weeks and have offered no compassionate visits with her and Season's Hospice will not return my calls. I gave them 2 stars because the staff that I did speak with seemed compassionate and I would rather have them see her then leave her in the hands of a non-caring nursing home.

Miserable hospice. snippy nurse, under-aged, inexperienced social worker all combined for…read moreunnecessary drama at the end of life experience for my beautiful husband suffering from body-wracking merciless cancer. It should have been a calm ending, they only hastened his death by absolute incompetence and upping a situation that was complex enough. Social worker should start looking for another job at a call center where she could put her two cents in at a comparable salary.

We were so fortunate to have an amazingly compassionate, thoughtful and caring hospice team at…read moreFaith and Family. All members of the team were tightly coordinated and in sync in supporting us as my husband's transition accelerated after a very painful fracture of the shoulder. From Faith, a very experienced hospice aide, to McKenzie, the case manager who visited us almost every day, to Connie the weekend nurse whose wisdom, insight and patience carried us forward, to Catherine, the social worker, Valerie, Reiki specialist, and Frank the Chaplin - all brought unique and supportive perspectives as we navigated this challenging time. My husband and I wanted to do hospice at home and as his decline accelerated, this hospice team made the journey possible. I am forever grateful for the wonderful care my husband received and the comfort care my family was given. I would strongly recommend this hospice! Hard to express how truly outstanding the team was!!

Faith & family hospice has the most compassionate staff. From the beginning, with our intake…read morenurse,Emily to our primary nurse, Lindsay we were treated with respect, caring & expertise. If someone was unable to answer a question, they admitted it & got the answer for us. As a nurse, I can be very picky with medical care. We were so lucky to have Lindsay as the primary nurse for my mother in law. She guided the entire family ( 6 children!!!) through the dying process. She was able to anticipate needs of everyone & facilitated them, while always putting my mother in law first. She was also able to arrange for a well needed massage from Poppy who was perfect. I cannot say enough about this hospice team!!! The best- don't go anywhere else.