Guthrie Hospice Towanda

I have only positive feedback regarding Guthrie Hospice. They were unbelievably helpful & treated our father like a king. That said, our situation might have been a little different than most, b/c our family included 2 nurses. We were able to discuss a plan of care & Hospice saw to it that we had everything we needed as we worked together. There was always someone a phone call away 24/7 for fathers & the familys concerns. Also, Chaplin Woodruff is excellent, he counseled throughout the 5 weeks needed and he continued to make contact through the following year! There is some room for improvement in staffing, they need more employees! There was one staff member who needs work on bedside manner, & "reading" the patients readiness to discuss their end of life. I understand you had a job to do, but that diagnosis came as a surprise & we were all in shock. I (strongly)recommend Guthrie Hospice, to work with you & your family, but realize they are overworked professionals, they're not your servants.

Dangerous and unlawful hospice practices Guthrie Hospice’s system endangers patients and families through chronic failures in communication, consent, medication safety, and legal compliance. My mother was chemically restrained without cause or consent, humiliated during care, and forcibly transferred against her & her proxy’s direction. Legally required End-of-life directives were never given to us to be posted in the home, staff left controlled substances after discharge, and no proper care plan or medication education was provided. It felt like we were employees rather than partners in care. If we asked a question or wanted more clarification on something it was met with dismissiveness, coercion and abuse of power. Leadership ignored complaints and fraudulent billing concerns. Go elsewhere or do whatever you need to find other care providers for your loved one. Especially, if your loved one has any type of cognitive impairment/TBI/ASD/AD. Guthrie has no clue what legal consent means for these patients. Hospice care is meant to “allow the patient and their families to live their last days to the fullest”, not to suffer from neglect, disorganization and disregard.

Hospice has caused only trouble for my family. We brought them in 2 months ago to help with mom's medication management. She was not end of life. They had her so drugged up on fentynal, morphine, haldol and Norco. When I expressed concerns they immediately began acting like family was the problem. We tried to drop them and go to pallative care and 3 people showed up a nurse, Chelsey the social worker and Anya, the RN. RN was very condescending and refused to listen to concerns. She stated we are all in end of days then said their philosphy wasnt death. Then they stated that medication was missing and had all moms caretakers suspended. They had been out Friday which was 2 days before and no missing medication. They said mom said she didn't get get meds, which she did, but she recanted immediately saying she was given her medications. Hospice called APS (ADULT PROTECTION SERVICES) logged a false complaint Stating medication was missing. There was no missing medication. Then tried to say there was neglect no one was there. That was also a false statement but yet they still reported it. They were very angry we wanted wellness for mom instead of death. She declined quickly every time they upped the morphine that she did not need in the first place. Never took our concerns into play at all. Mom will hopefully be coming off all these crazy narcotics and life will return to normal. I would never recommend Guthrie Hospice to anyone.