VITAS Healthcare - Orange City

My grandmother's nurses, aides, and on-the-ground support staff were INCREDIBLE -- dignity, patience and genuine love. This review is STRICTLY for the people running VITAS -- the administrators and decision-makers behind the scenes -- you have completely failed her. Just days after her hospice doctor re-certified her, confirming she is still terminally ill and declining, VITAS administrations suddenly overrode that decision and ordered her discharge, citing only "length of stay." Two days later, a doctor (who never treated her and isn't even in the same state) signed off on it and changed her prognosis. We appealed the discharge, but VITAS submitted none of her relevant medical records, -- none of her falls over the last 6 months, cognitive decline, or medication dependency. The appeal was denied because they withheld clinical evidence. Since then, no one has returned our calls about her ongoing care, her safety, or next steps. The ONLY communication we received is about picking up her hospital bed and oxygen. We didn't even receive a written discharge statement. By regulation, hospices are supposed to allow up to 30 days for families to arrange equipment, replacements during a discharge. VITAS gave us one business day. One. No plan, no transition, no concern for her well-being. She is still dying. Without us stepping in to secure care, she would be suffering right now. VITAS bedside caregivers are 5-star. But their corporate leadership? They put policy and profit before people. They abandoned a terminal patient, violated care regulations, and left her family to clean up the mess. Families deserve better. Dying people deserve better.

All I can say that is good about Vitas is that our social worker cared. Please, if you care about your loved one, DO NOT HIRE THEM. I'm not going to go into details, but they do not listen to the family. I was dismissed and talked down to numerous times by my care team. I requested a new care team multiple times because of the disrespect and disregard for my loved one's needs. Because of their egregious behavior my loved one ended up in restraints at Halifax. The only good thing that came our of this is that I learned that Halifax has a top notch hospice care system. Just call Halifax and run away from Vitas. They don't understand the purpose of Hospice care.

Our dad was near end of life and experiencing sundowners. Everyone in the family knew this and relayed it to the hospice nurses over and over. We all kept telling them that he needs a sedative in the evening or else he would become agitated and combative, which is not at all who he usually is. They didn't listen. They didn't lift a finger to help him. Finally, one night he became verbally abusive and they had him baker acted and sent to nearby Halifax hospital, where he would finish out the remainder of his life. Up until then, we were working on getting him home so that he could die in his own bed surrounded hy family. Because of Vitas, that did not happen. Don't let this happen to your loved one.