Blues Skies Hospice in July 4th Parade

Blue Skies Hospice and Palliative Care participated in Whiting, Indiana's annual Fourth of July Parade. The staff was touched by the warm reception they received from the people of Whiting.

Pearl Masciotra (volunteer coordinator), Lisa Guzman (executive director), Pat DeGan (volunteer), Carole Morris (secretary)

Bringing Back Memories Through Baseball

Therapists at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale in the Bronx are using baseball to help older adults and those struggling with Alzheimer's recall good memories. A video at Wall Street Journal takes viewers inside the successful program:

The moving video shows that with personalized and thoughtful care, patients can enjoy the enhancement of their quality of life.

At Blue Skies Hospice, our professional and volunteer staff are constantly searching for ways to achieve productive results with our patients. We host special events with patients' favorite music and movies, and give everyone the individuated attention that makes them more comfortable, peaceful, and satisfied.

Please contact us today and we can discuss the right treatment for your loved one.

Spring Dessert Day

Blue Skies Hospice welcomed spring by hosting a dessert day for staff at Kindred Care in Dyer, IN on April 10th. The staff enjoyed delicious homemade treats, baked by Blue Skies volunteers.

Volunteers Shirley Kline and Pat DeGan

Blue Skies at Volunteer Fair

Blue Skies Hospice had a table at the "Spring into Action Volunteer Fair" on Saturday, March 8, 2014. Volunteer Pat DeGan and volunteer coordinator, Pearl Masciotra, met with people interested in volunteering. It was two years ago at the volunteer fair that Pat DeGan became interested in Blue Skies Hospice and started volunteer training.

Pearl Masciotra (Volunteer Coordinator) and Pat DeGan (Volunteer)

Blue Skies Holds Raffle For Staff at Hammond Whiting Care Center

Blue Skies Hospice held a free raffle for the staff at Hammond-Whiting Care Center on March 7th. The winner of the Bath and Body basket was Stacey Siller, RN (pictured below). The volunteers of Blue Skies organized the event to show their appreciation for the Hammond-Whiting care staff.

New York Times Warns About For Profit Hospices

"Patients are getting bounced as corporate bottom lines have come to matter more," the New York Times concludes in a report on the differences of care between for profit and non-profit hospices. The Times adds, "Enrolling with a nonprofit may lower the risk of being discharged from hospice three weeks before death."

Blue Skies Hospice is a nonprofit organization, fully committed to the care of its patients and the consolation of the patients' families. If you or a loved one is in need of hospice, please give us a call. 

Blue Skies Can Help You Make Difficult Decision

Marie Marley writes at the Huffington Post about the pain and challenge of entering her husband into hospice care.

Ed had been declining rapidly, which concerned me so much that I had a talk with the Assistant Director of Nursing at his facility about it. She had spoken with the Medical Director, who'd confirmed that Ed did indeed qualify for hospice services.

After our talk, I just roamed around the facility aimlessly, like a lost child. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. The very word 'hospice' scared me. The news forced me to realize that Ed was, in fact, dying. I had been in denial about that, but the denial was gone forever.

I felt like signing the papers would be tantamount to signing Ed's death warrant. I knew that wasn't true, but it's how I felt.

In the days that followed, I thought a lot about the decision I was facing. During each passing day I convinced myself that Ed wasn't quite ready for hospice care. I later realized, however, that I was the one who wasn't quite ready for it.

I made an appointment with a second colleague who was a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati. I had so many questions. At times during our talk, I realized I was actually holding my breath. I struggled to pay attention. As I saw it the only purpose of our discussion was to learn more about Ed's impending death.

But when he had answered all of my questions, he looked at me kindly and said, "You know, Marie, the real question for the caregiver is 'How do I help this person have the highest quality of life possible in the time that's remaining?'"

That really turned me around. Instead of fixating on Ed's impending death, I began thinking about his remaining life and what I could do to bring happiness and joy to his final days. Once I started doing that I felt much better and Ed and I had a beautiful conclusion to our long life together.

Marie's moving story is something very familiar to the competent and caring staff at Blue Skies Hospice. Our nurses, clergy, social workers, and volunteers will help patients and their families move through their painful period of transition with the grace, dignity, and compassion that Marie and Ed experienced. 

Announcement: The Opening of Blue Skies Medical

Dr. Lisa Guzman, the founder and director of Blue Skies Hospice, has opened a general medical practice - Blue Skies Medical - in Lansing, Illinois. Blues Skies Medical specializes in family practice, weight loss, and palliative care.

Dr. Guzman is currently taking patient appointments.

For more information visit the Blue Skies Medical website.

Blue Skies Christmas Movie Night

Blue Skies hosted a Christmas movie night at Kindred Care in Dyer, Indiana on December 16th. Volunteers from Blue Skies treated residents and their families to the holiday classic, White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby.

 

Blue Skies Hospice Volunteers

 

Blue Skies Hospice Continues Mission of Service Despite Setbacks

To run in the Northwest Indiana Times:


Blue Skies Hospice Continues Mission of Service Despite Setbacks

Oncology nurse and nurse practitioner, Lisa Guzman, established and opened Blue Skies Hospice in Hammond, Indiana in 2002. She did so with a mission service, and a plan to provide palliative care and hospice treatment to Northwest Indiana and Chicago suburban patients, recently diagnosed with terminal illnesses, at their most vulnerable moments. 

Guzman was inspired into action through her experiences with dying patients she treated as an oncology nurse who did not have the comfort, care, and compassion that hospice readily offers the actively dying. “Those patients held a special place in my heart,” she said. “Yet, there were so many of them who would have been better treated within a hospice.” 

Blue Skies Hospice provides personalized services to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. A qualified and committed staff of nurses, social workers, clergy, and volunteers give 24 hour care with an emphasis on the patient and family’s physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

The rapid and tumultuous changes in American health care policy and governmental regulations have affected, but not ended, the mission of service that guides Lisa Guzman and the entire staff of Blue Skies Hospice.

In 2013, Blue Skies Hospice, intrusive and rigid regulations from the federal government forced the closure of the Blue Skies Hospice House; a high quality in patient facility that often provided care at no cost to local patients. 

Current Medicare regulations state that a hospice is only able to have 10 percent of its total patient hours as in patients. Once a hospice exceeds that limit, they are required to reimburse Medicare, at high cost, for the payments that it receives. Medicare’s policy of reimbursing general inpatient care at a higher rate than daily outpatient care also exacerbated the challenges of Blue Skies.

Closing the doors on the hospice house was sad and frustrating, most especially for those patients who will no longer have access to its peaceful facilities. 

Blue Skies Hospice, however, is moving forward by adjusting to the current health care laws and expectations, so that it may continue to serve Northwest Indiana and the Chicago suburbs. The non-profit organization will use its new office, located at 649 Mulberry St. in Hammond, to provide palliative care and symptom management for those living with a terminal disease. 

A doctor, nurse, social worker, chaplain, and volunteer network will commit to giving patients comfort in a way that protects their dignity, and enhances their families’ peace-of-mind.

Lisa Guzman has also recently opened the doors of Blue Skies Medical, a new family practice in Lansing, Illinois.

Lisa Guzman and Blue Skies demonstrate that, even when changes in health care law, policy, and cost confuse and frustrate many Americans, qualified and caring people can continue to make a beneficial difference for the lives of many patients and their families.

Blue Skies Hospice Has Moved

Blues Skies Hospice has moved its Indiana office to 649 Mulberry Street in Hammond, Indiana. Our new location will allow us to better serve the needs of the patients, families, and the community.

Hospice Voices at the Huffington Post

The Huffington Post has published a helpful overview of the benefits of hospice care. The author, Kristin Meekhof, has written a book on hospice, and in it, she attempts to delineate the value of the service that over 1.65 million Americans use every year:

Many have lost loved ones in the hospital and others, like my late husband, had in-home hospice care. Rather often, when I talk about my upcoming book, I am asked whether I would again engage hospice. This answer is yes. Hospice is a difficult decision for anyone, but it allowed me to bring my late husband home, somewhere he desperately wanted to be.

The staff at Blue Skies is committed to bringing the same peace of mind, comfort, and reassurance to our patients and their families during their trauma and trial through terminal disease. Please call us if you have any questions. 

When Should You Enter a Palliative Care Unit or Opt for Hospice Care?

The New York Times takes a look at some of the most important questions a patient will face:

3. How should I decide when to enroll in hospice care?
That’s a decision that also should be made after talking to your doctor, as well as your palliative care team and family. Once a patient enrolls in hospice, which is covered as a special Medicare benefit, he or she generally pays nothing, although there may be some co-payments required, like those for medications. Patients in hospice, however, agree to forgo treatment aimed at curing their illness. They can always choose to stop hospice care, though, if their condition improves or if they simply change their mind, Mr. Schumacher said.

The short article in the NY Times also addresses insurance coverage of hospice, and other pressing issues for patients and families.

At Blue Skies Hospice, our committed staff will do its best to advise and guide patients through the process, and in doing so, formulate a plan that works for the patient's preferences and priorities.

Blue Skies Hospice Grief Support Group

Please Join Us

 

Who:      Blue Skies Hospice

 

What:    Grief Support Group

 

Where:   2714 169^th Street, Hammond, IN  46323

 

When:    Third Firday of every month

             

Time:     5-7 p.m.

 

We believe this meeting will be beneficial for both those who have experienced the loss of a loved one and for those who are currently a patient or friends and family of patients still within hospice.

 

We hope that you will make plans to join Blue Skies Hospice as we seek to provide overall care for our patients and their friends and families.

 

 

Please RSVP to 219/554-0688.

Blue Skies Offers Services to Help Those in Their Most Difficult Stages

Kimberly A. Condon, a nurse who worked in the ER and in hospice, writes about her experiences in a moving and thought provoking new essay for Slate. Her essay is deeply personal and it demonstrates the difficulty everyone faces in dealing with death - whether the death is of a loved one or a patient.

Blue Skies Hospice, with its caring and competent staff of nurses, doctors, clergy, social workers, and volunteers, is dedicated to providing care, comfort, and companionship during the final days of a patient life, and it also offers a bereavement group to help the families of patients make the transition into a new world that suddenly feels empty without the presence of their loved one.

Please contact us and inquire about our services. We can answer your questions, and we hope, ease your worries.

Blue Skies Hospice Hosts Spring Tea

On May 10th, Blue Skies Hospice held a "Spring Tea" at Hammond Whiting Care Center. The residents enjoyed homemade cookies and sipped tea from china tea cops. Each resident that attended was given a ceramic bird; a reminder that spring is here.

Not all residents pictured are Blue Skies Hospice patients

Blue Skies Sponsors "John Wayne Day"

On April 16th, Blue Skies Hospice sponsored "John Wayne Day" at Kindred Care in Dyer. The residents had a great afternoon watching the movie, "Mclintock", enjoying refreshments, and having their picture taken in our western picture booth.

Blue Skies staff and volunteers in the Western Picture Booth

A Kindred resident in the picture booth

New Essay in The Atlantic - How Not to Die

Jonathan Rauch writes an excellent and deeply personal essay about end-of-life care in America. He uses his own research, interviews with medical professionals, and the experience of watching his father die in a hospital to present a moving and thought-provoking call for better and more human end of life care that prioritizes "the conversation" between patients, doctors, and families, and considers the pain, comfort, and dignity of terminal patients; rather than coldly putting people through unnecessary and unhelpful batteries of tests and procedures.

The committed and compassionate staff at Blue Skies Hospice believes in treating pain, providing spiritual comfort to families, and preserving dignity as terminally ill patients go through the final stage.

One of the points that Rauch makes in his terrific piece is that patients and doctors should have more conversations about end of life treatment options, and that they should spend more time - as painful as it might be - preparing for the inevitable.

Blue Skies Hospice can help facilitate this process, and the staff will do so with the most urgent and profound concern for the patients and their families.

Free Community Progran on Health Care Decisions

On Tuesday, April 16th, Blue Skies Hospice will sponsor and host a free community program on health care decisions and creating your power of attorney for health care.

Why is it important that you attend?

Ask yourself:

If you became seriously ill, what kind of care would you want?
Who would follow your instructions and ensure you get the care you need?

If you are caring for someone with declining health, do you know what kind of care they will need in the future? Do you know what their wishes are?
Do you know where to seek additional support services for your loved one and for yourself?

Speakers include local attorney James R. Oates and health care consultant, Susan Schwartz, R.N..

The event takes place on April 16th, from 2-4pm, at the Hammond Public Library on 564 State Street.

Report on Benefits of Hospice

A news broadcast in Colorado Springs, CO consulted local experts to give viewers a report recommending hospice. The report is short, but raised many important points about why hospice is a helpful service for patients and their families.