Hospice Of Southern Maine

Causes: Health, Home Health Care, Hospices, Human Services, Specialty Hospitals

Mission: Compassion, care, and comfort through end of life.

Programs: Hospice of southern maine's (hsm) mission is to provide compassion, care, and comfort through end of life for patients with life-limiting illnesses and support for their families. Our stated vision is as follows: as a leading provider of hospice and palliative care in southern maine, our focus is quality and excellence in patient and family centered care. Striving to be the hospice provider of choice for patients and families, and the hospice employer of choice for healthcare professionals, we endeavor to positively shift societal attitudes concerning death and dying, grief and loss. To meet our mission, hsm offers comprehensive hospice care to patients in york and cumberland counties. Our patients have a life-limiting illness and a prognosis of six months or less. In addition to providing medical, emotional, social and spiritual support to our patients, we also provide care before and after their death for their loved ones. Our core vision includes a focus on shifting societal attitudes concerning death and dying. To fulfill this vision, hsm organizes an annual regional conference on end-of-life issues, provides guidance to staff in area hospitals and nursing homes on patient care at end of life, and provides community information sessions in businesses, at educational facilities, at churches, and at other community locations. Our bereavement program, which is an important part of our mission, offers support for 13 months following the death of a loved one. Our program is unique in that it offers one-on-one counseling at no cost. We also offer eight-week group sessions for people who are interested in connecting with others in a similar situation. Additionally, we provide counseling and group support to anyone in the community who is grieving, whether or not their loved one died while under our care. Formed through a collaborative effort among york and cumberland county community leaders and health care providers, hsm began providing direct patient services in 2004. In 2007, hsm opened the area's first inpatient hospice facility - the gosnell memorial hospice house. Today, hsm is the only free-standing, state licensed, medicare-certified nonprofit in maine that is solely focused on providing professional and volunteer direct hospice services to dying patients and their families, regardless of their ability to pay. Demand for our services continues to grow. In 2016, we provided hospice care to 1,615 patients and their families. Our highly skilled, multidisciplinary team includes approximately 140 physicians, nurses, social workers, home health aides, chaplains, occupational and physical therapists, and grief counselors, as well as approximately 160 volunteers. This team works together to provide direct patient care in alignment with our mission to provide compassion, care and comfort through the end of life.