Hospice Organization

Hospice Organization

>> we're in the midst of a dangerous pandemic, the most vulnerable victims have compromised immune systems or underlying health problems. our hospice patients are a major concern, and here to tell us more how to protect them is theresa, officer for hospice care of south carolina and agape hospice, and thank you for coming.

>> thank you for having us.

Of course the health and safety and well being of our team and their patients and caregivers is the utmost importance.

Whether you're hospice or home health, and you're right, every single person is impacted by this.

So right now, what we're focusing on is everything you're hearing in the news.

Wash your hands, use hand sanitizer.

Shelter in place.

Practice social distancing.

And it's particularlier important when you have patients that are at the end of a life.

Or have impaired immune systems, because they're the ones at the highest risk.

>> well, i have to imagine that there are certain measures in place already for anyone who is caring for a hospice patient.

Now, i imagine that things are ramped up even more, and are your caregivers having to do anything differently?

>> yes, we are.

So one of the things that we're doing very differently now in midst of the pandemic, we screen, so our caregivers have to screen themselves and their immediate family members every day to make sure that they're not showing any of the signs or symptoms of the coronavirus.

If they do, they have to report that into work, they take their temperatures every day, and then they have to be cleared before they can come into work, because of course what we're trying to do is mitigate the spread of that virus to others that we may come into contact with.

So we have also tried to, you know you're hearing issues about the supply chain, and being able to get gowns and masks and n95 masks, so we're feeling that as well.

Trying to make sure that we're procuring all of the personal equipment that we need.

>> let's talk about that for a minute.

How difficult has it been to get your hands on those usually items to keep everybody safe?

>> well, i think everybody is having the same challenges.

There are a certain number of suppliers that you are used to having a certain amount on hand.

And then you find yourself that you have to make that so much more exponential, the number that you would usually keep on hand.

And then make sure that you're distributing that across the state to different branches and offices and trying to keep everybody at that same level.

Fortunately, we have been very good, and we have a lot of people working on different supply lines, and then we set up a central hub in columbia that's able to disseminate supplies across the state to our different branches.

So as one branch may have an abundance, we're trying to share that with others so our team is protected.

>> just briefly, how devastating would it be for a hospice patient to be exposed to the coronavirus?

>> it's devastating for anyone to be exposed.

You see carriers who have the disease and they're not symptomatic, and then we see the deaths.

For the hospice patients, they're the most vulnerable population, and the most immunocompromised.

And they're at the highest risk for that.

So it's important to have those supplies, and have those n95 masks, and for us to change our protocols accordingly.

>> and anybody interested in giving to your organization, we'll have all of the information out there as well on the sight on the social media pages, the hospice caregiver, a special breed.

We want to thank you for all that you do, and