If you are considering hospice care for a loved one, I urge you, please, look elsewhere…read more
My dad was admitted into Gentiva's in-home hospice care in early April of this year. He was dying from Parkinson's disease, a cruel, torturous illness that slowly robs a person of their strength, mobility, and independence.
As a family, we knew his time was coming, and we also knew that he wanted to stay at home. The last thing he wanted was to spend his final days in a cold, sterile hospital room.
To honor his wishes, we chose Gentiva. Their homepage carries this promise:
"At Gentiva, we believe every day is an opportunity to make care more personal and life more comfortable. That's why we offer home health care, palliative care, and hospice care to give people the support they need with dignity, grace, and love."
Sadly, our experience fell devastatingly short of that commitment.
The medical director who was assigned to oversee my dad's hospice care did little more than sign off on orders. She never visited my dad in person, never scheduled a virtual or phone consultation, and never met the man whose comfort and dignity she was entrusted to protect.
My dad was a physical therapist in Minden, NV, from the 1990s until 2018. He served his community with love, dignity, and kindness, a true healer, admired and loved by his patients. To see a man who had dedicated his life to helping others become a prisoner in his own body was heartbreaking beyond words.
We had hoped that Gentiva, and the medical director in particular, would help make his final months more comfortable and dignified. While the hospice nurses and staff who cared for him were compassionate and wonderful, the medical director repeatedly refused to increase his pain medication, even as his suffering became unbearable. His nurse, Jesse, pleaded with her several times to adjust his dosage, but she would not. We were given no explanation. Some of my dad's final words to my sister were this: "I am the patient, I feel like shit, why won't they help me?"
Eventually, his pain became intolerable. We had no choice but to discharge him from hospice and admit him to the hospital. He was admitted on Friday, July 11th, and passed away three days later, very early Monday morning, July 14th, alone, without my mom or any of our family by his side.
My dad did not deserve to leave this world that way. He lived his life with integrity, compassion, and love, and he deserved to die with the same dignity he gave to so many others.
It makes me sick to think that the medical director continues to practice medicine and call herself a healer. After some research, I learned that she serves as both Gentiva's medical director and operates her own medical spa. It's hard to imagine how someone juggling the roles of medical director for a hospice and private business owner could possibly provide the level of care Gentiva promises --"with dignity, grace, and love."
I'm angry for my dad. I'm angry for my mom. I'm angry for my siblings and myself. My dad deserved better.