People who face an illness or other condition that is no longer responding to treatment often choose to receive care in their homes, surrounded by family members and other loved ones. One of the oldest hospice programs in Pennsylvania, Diakon Hospice Saint John responds to such situations.
Certified by Medicare and Medicaid and licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Diakon Hospice Saint John focuses on providing compassionate, comprehensive care, ensuring dignity and comfort, to terminally ill patients, while also supporting family members.
How Are Services Provided?
Diakon Hospice Saint John provides a range of services through our highly skilled hospice team members. Their care management is available as needed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in the privacy of your home setting, hospitals, nursing centers, personal care homes, and senior living communities.
Who Provides Hospice Care?
Each patient is assigned a team of compassionate, caring professionals who provide physical care as well as emotional and spiritual support—to both patient and family members. The Diakon Hospice Saint John care team includes …
- Patient and his or her family and loved ones
- Primary physician
- Hospice medical director
- Registered nurses
- Licensed practical nurses
- Home health aides
- Social workers
- Chaplains
- Bereavement specialist
- Specially trained volunteers
- Physical, occupational, and speech therapists
as needed
Members of the Hospice Team can ...
- Provide pain and symptom management
- Make community referrals (i.e. medical alerts, meals on wheels)
- Provide a range of therapies as needed
- Teach family members to help to care for the patient
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- Assist with patients’ personal care
- Do light household chores
- Provide respite for caregivers
- Provide bereavement support and services
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Do We Qualify?
Each person referred to Diakon Hospice Saint John must meet certain criteria to ensure that hospice care is appropriate. The program’s medical director is responsible for reviewing patient information, including illness-related signs and symptoms, to determine whether hospice services are appropriate and reimbursable. Medicare provides hospice programs with criteria to ensure services are provided to patients who are eligible for hospice care.
Beyond these criteria for specific illnesses, Diakon Hospice Saint John follows a range of guidelines on whether a patient has a prognosis of six months or less if the disease follows its natural course. Among these are …
- Multiple hospitalizations or emergency-room usage for a terminal illness
- Continuing falls
- Unexplained weight loss
- Shortness of breath when resting
- Cancer that is not responding to radiation, chemotherapy, or other treatments
- Increasing need for assistance with the activities of daily life
- Inability to control pain or other symptoms
- Worsening memory-related conditions such as dementia
- Diseases in addition to the terminal illness
- Physician report that the patient has a poor prognosis
Referrals …
We will work with you and your physician to determine eligibility for hospice care for you or a loved one. An individual may directly request hospice care or be referred by his or her physician, hospital personnel, family members, or friends. Referrals can be made 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Click here for information on how to contact Diakon Hospice Saint John.