FOREST CITY HOSPICE HOUSE - HOSPICE OF THE CAROLINA FOOTHILLS

Words cannot properly acknowledge the amazing facility and staff. Everyone went over and above to make my father and his family comfortable. These folks are doing their job with dignity, always with a smile. Thank you, thank you.

I’m glad that this facility has been able to help some people in the community, but there are some things you should know before placing your dying loved one here. This is a for profit organization that pays its “liaisons” a commission for each admission. Beware of the information provided by these individuals as they are salespeople who will misrepresent the facility to make their commission. The nursing ratio we experienced was 1 nurse to 9 patients. If your loved one has high medication or care needs, this is not the appropriate place for them. There is not a provider on site 24/7 like a hospital palliative care environment. Contacting the on-call provider delays patient care, and the provider does not conduct a complete evaluation of patients admitted outside of regular business hours. Our story: My dad was receiving excellent, high-level care in the palliative care unit at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. The nursing ratio was 1 nurse and patient care technician for every 2 patients. Ashley Skinner contacted our family while he was there and introduced herself as a hospice “liaison.” (We later saw that she refers to herself as a hospice “marketing specialist” on social networking sites.) She convinced us to transfer my dad to the Forest City hospice facility. She promised us that he would receive better care than the hospital environment could provide, the same medications he had been stabilized on, and would be in a better environment. While the Forest City facility looks very nice, the level of care was grossly inadequate. There was no physician/provider on site when he arrived, and no physician/provider contacted us or conducted a virtual or face-to-face intake consultation. His chart was also clearly not reviewed in advance of his arrival as the facility was not prepared to care for him. My dad was receiving morphine and direct nursing care every 30 minutes (at a minimum) in the hospital. When we arrived at the hospice facility we were told the nurse would only be able to see him once per hour because she had 8 other patients to take care of. She stated that they did not have enough staffing or enough morphine in the facility to dose him that frequently. The nurse told us that they would run out of morphine, which is appalling for a facility designed around helping patients pass in comfort. When my dad began to show signs of pain, I asked the nurse to medicate him. She said that she could not because the orders for morphine were for only once per hour. I had to beg her to contact the on-call provider to update the orders. Time passed and my dad was still in pain. I was frequently asking the nurse for some action to be taken, but she stayed behind the desk and reminded us that she had 9 patients to take care of but had not seen any of them yet. The impact was that our dying loved one was in distress and was being denied treatment because the facility did not have appropriate medication orders, staff, or medication supply. We contacted the Spartanburg Regional on-call hospice support team and were advised to call 911 to emergently extract him from the hospice facility so he could receive adequate care elsewhere. He was picked up by EMS and transferred to Rutherford Regional Medical Center where he received immediate treatment with IV morphine and lorazepam from the ER staff without hesitation. Had we been appropriately informed of the nursing ratio, absence of an on-site provider, and limitations of the facility, we would not have transferred my dad out of Spartanburg. Unfortunately we encountered a salesperson, Ashley Skinner, who was either grossly misinformed or knowingly lied to us about the capabilities of the facility to earn her commission.

The nurses and staff treated my dad with patience and kindness, he was on heavy medications because of dementia they kept him comfortable, cleaned and turned they treated him with kindness and talked to him even though he was sedated I can not say enough about this wonderful place!

The staff here are amazingly compassionate and professional. My family was beyond pleased with the care our loved one received. Thank you so much.

We have a person in their care who is at home because there is not a bed available. That is understandable. What is not acceptable is that we have not heard from the nurse or aide since Friday and today is Sunday. They have promised to visit Saturday and Sunday but have not returned our calls. There are supplies we need and that request has been ignored. The facility may be excellent but the in-home care associated with is is horrendous.