The Connecticut Hospice

When my mother entered Hospice we knew that her condition was terminal. However, I had no knowledge of what this place would be like. My mother was not very lucid as she was fading in and out. She was put in a room with three other patients; not all in various stages of terminal illnesses. All of these patients had visitors, some were much louder and much more animated that expected. I found this upsetting and did let the staff know; apparently, this was the best they could offer. I received two phone calls to let me know that they were administering morphine to my mother; two within a four-five hour time frame.She had never before received this medication. My mother was 85 lbs. I arrived at the Hospice just as she was dying; she died after I was there for 2-3 minutes. No one at that facility ever called to let me know that the end was imminent; I will never forgive that. To be honest, I never wanted to go to this facility; I had requested that her Hematologist/Oncologist send her to Yale where she (and the family)had previously been treated with such care and respect. This woman doctor refused without even an explanation; she did it through a nurse. Be very careful of this group of female hematologists; they are simply too all-knowing to be bothered with family concerns - likewise, be careful of this Hospice and be very involved with the treatment plan with the doctor as you likely won't see one past the initial entrance discussion-we didn't. Also, forget any real privacy unless you think a 4 patient bedroom is accceptable ! more

As a prior employee of CT Hospice (inpatient: 1990s, home care: 2006-2010) I am appalled to read the horrible reviews of this facility. When I worked inpatient, I worked with the best nurses around who had excellent training and compassion. Hospice was never just a ""job,"" it was a loving profession that treated patients and their families like gold. What the hell happened? It used to be the best hospice around. Looks like it went to hell with the rest of the health care system! Sorry to the families that have had tragic experiences - you deserved better. more

Sorry to read the two complaints below. I worked at CT Hospice from 2006 to 2008 and it was the best working experience I have ever had. It appears that there are a lot of new people there and even a new administration. I've lost touch with my co workers as I've moved out of state so I'm not aware if these staff changes have created the problems for these two complaints. Sad to hear it though as when I was there, we received nothing but praise from patients and family's. more

My father went for pain management to Ct Hospice Branford on May 14 2010. My family was told by my father's home care nurse(Hospice employee)that my father's Oncologist wanted him to go there for a couple day stay for pain management. My father drove him self to Hospice and walked in the door. On admission Hospice had him sign a DNR form. The same day the Hospice social worker wrote in his summary notes. Patient does not fully understand what DNR means. Hospice still made my father a DNR I guess it doesn't matter if you don't understand what it means. It's only your life. On the Hospice admission the Hospice physician signed my father as being terminal. We were never told my father was terminal? My father's Oncologist said he didn't know my father went to Hospice. My father's Oncologist's name was on all the admission paper's. Hospice regulations say Hospice will be in touch with the Physician they never called any of my fathers Doctors. How can a Hospice physician sign someone is terminal when they have no idea of their medical prognois?After my father drove and walked into to Hospice they hooked him up to a PCA Morphine pump. Within a couple of days they gave him Trazadone,Ativian,Thorazine,Morphine pills. They put my father in diapers something he never wore before Hospice. My father was not allowed to get up and use the bathroom. Within a few days he was unresponsive his mouth was hanging open he was not eating or drinking any fluids. My mother kept saying that Hospice must know more about my fathers prognois then we did. Hospice was telling us my family was in denial. That my father would be dead shortly. How could this happen? We had just been to his Oncologist a few weeks before and all his blood work was in the normal ranges. My fathers radiologist had just done a head to toe bone scan and said he was going to be around for a long while. The radiologist said the radiation would get rid of the lower back pain from the cancer in his bones. When he had the radiation that's exactly what happened. My father has been pain free for 8 months. The only reason my father is a live today is because I stopped by one evening and I asked the nurse why they don't use alarms under the bed so they know when a patient gets up. She told me they use medication as restraints! That is the only reason my father is still alive today. At that point I realized what they were doing to my father. Hospice told us we were in denial. Even though we kept telling Hospice my father was only there for pain management. Finally after having my father transported by ambulance to Saint Raphael then to sister Grimes Rehab total cost of bills $70,000. There was no other reason for my father to be in the hospital except for what Hospice did to him. I have been down to Ct Hospice and they have appoligized for what they did to him. Hospice did an Internal Investigating. Hospice said they don't know how he got into Hospice with no referal letter from his doctor. How could he get in with no terminal diagnois except for the one Hospice signed???? Hospice doesn't know how it happened?? It's unacceptable what they did to my father. My father has panic attacks now and doesn't want my mother to leave him alone. In September my father did drive to Hospice by him self from Hamden to Branford and walked into Hospice to meet with the head of nursing and Pat the director. He wanted to show them he was a person that Hospice can not assume all patient's are terminal and that they made a big mistake. He asked them why did you try to kill me? Why didn't the nurses listen to my family. Hospice had no answer. The Hospice social worker came to my parents home. I showed her the list of medication they gave my father. I asked her is this pain management or end of life care she said this was deffitnley end of life care. Nancy Rogers the social worker said it was the perfect Storm. more

I had a family member at Branford Hospice in 2010. A different MD came by every day. I did not see the expected caring and empathy from the staff -- seems it's just a job. Our family received no outreach or support to help with our grief. The staff were much more caring at the hospital. This is about insurance companies saving money by moving the process of dying to a less-expensive facility. more

With the exception of one nurse and one social worker who were both very helpful, my wife was being treated as if she were an army recruit. They handled my wife with physical roughness and showed a complete lack of empathy for my wife and for me and my family. Their method of treating a patient is to over dose them with so much pain medication they will not be able to create a problem to the nurses. The first night after our arrival, my wife was awake at midnight and wanted to talk to me. We did so at a low whisper despite other patients in the room who were NOT being disturbed. However, one officious nurse came in at 1am to sternly tell me to be quiet. At 2pm the same nurse wedged herself between my wife and me and began giving her 4 shots. My wife immediately lost consciousness and we were unable to continue to discuss the important afterlife decisions we needed to make. When I confronted the nurse to seek what she gave my wife, she responded ""your wife needs to sleep"". I assume this nurse thought she was God. My wife was so deeply sedated she did not show any sign of response until 1:30pm the next day, just a short time before our daughter was to arrive from Europe to see her. All but one of the remaining nurses, were equally poor. I would have been more comfortable having my wife treated at home. This hospice is a disgrace and all the nurses need to get some special training. I am convinced that the overmedication of pain medicine hastened my wife's death and provided the family with insufficient time to discuss important matters. I would even come close to saying that this hospice may have murdered my wife, although I knew she was a terminal case and would have succumbed in due course. These are stong words and I plan to speak with Yale NH Hospital, who recommended the hospice, to be very cautious in the future.\r (Yale, while a hospital, treated my wife superbly and was a more true hospice. Bravo YNHH! You are truly professional and I highly recommend you.) Pros: Nice physical atmosphere Cons: Very poor nursing care; no empathy; officious; lack of caring for the family as well more