Big Bend Hospice

Big Bend Hospice serves people living with life-threatening illnesses across the Big Bend region, and since it started in 1983 as a non-profit, it's been providing hospice care to folks at home, long-term care facilities, assisted living communities, and also at their inpatient hospice units called Margaret Z. Dozier House and First Commerce Center for Compassionate Care, with another special inpatient room behind the Leon County Detention Facility and even one at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, and they make sure families can visit their loved ones 24 hours a day at the hospice house, which is a quiet spot with comfortable open seating, magazines, and outdoor seating areas where families can have a bit of peace. Nurses, chaplains, social workers, music therapists, home health aides, and volunteers work together as a team to help with pain, symptom management, personal care like bathing and grooming, light housekeeping, companionship, and even physical, occupational, and speech therapy, so families always know there's someone looking out for their loved one. They also help with transportation, nutritional guidance, and educational support for families about the disease process or pain and symptom management, and there are programs for bereavement care, a four-week adult grief support group, music and animal therapy, spiritual care, veterans' care, advance directives, a caregiver renewal institute, as well as the Transitions Supportive Care program for people dealing with chronic illnesses. There are respite care services to give primary caregivers a break, satellite offices in different parts of the region, and a mobile medical unit aimed at bringing hospice and palliative care services directly to folks in rural or hard-to-reach communities, which can be a big relief if getting to the main campus is tough, and there's collaboration with others in the community to improve end-of-life care, advocate for patient rights, and make sure people have the resources they need. Their team, the staff at Big Bend Hospice, takes a holistic approach by addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, and they're accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Partner with checks happening every three years to keep quality standards in place, plus there's a veteran program and a retail store, Oak Tree Treasures, whose sales support hospice services, and a community newsletter called The Oak Connection that tells about their mission and what's happening at Big Bend Hospice. The hours at the office run Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but care and access are provided all hours, every day of the week, and there's nearby parking so visitors can come see their loved ones as much as they need.