Hospice care in Fairfield County, Connecticut

What does hospice provide?

Hospice provides a comfort-care team (nurses, aides, a social worker, a chaplain and volunteers), medications for comfort, equipment and supplies for someone with a life expectancy of six months or less who has chosen comfort over cure.

Care is given wherever the person lives, with short inpatient stays when symptoms need closer management.

Which hospices serve Fairfield County?

DPH's license export shows 27 home health care agencies with Fairfield County addresses, and CMS lists 7 Medicare-certified hospices with offices in the county.

Hospices based elsewhere in Connecticut may also serve Fairfield County towns. The roster lists those with county offices.

Who pays for hospice?

Medicare's hospice benefit pays for hospice care with little or no cost to the patient, and HUSKY C covers hospice for Medicaid members; neither pays room and board in a nursing home or assisted living.

Complaints about hospice care can go to the hospice and home health hotline at 800-828-9769.

What support does hospice give the family?

Hospice supports the whole family, not only the patient: it teaches caregivers how to give comfort medications and manage symptoms, offers social work and chaplaincy, can arrange short respite stays, and provides bereavement support for about a year after a death.

Ask each hospice what its bereavement program includes and whether it serves family members who live outside Connecticut by phone or video.

When should a family call hospice?

Call when treatment is no longer helping or is causing more burden than benefit, when hospital stays are becoming frequent, or when a parent says they want to focus on comfort; an informational visit commits no one.

Hospice works best when there are weeks or months to build trust with the team. A physician's certification of a prognosis of six months or less is required to enroll.

Can hospice come to assisted living or a nursing home in Connecticut?

Yes: hospice teams serve residents wherever they live, including assisted living, residential care homes and nursing homes, working alongside the facility's own staff.

Ask the community how it coordinates with hospice, who gives comfort medications at night, and whether a resident on hospice can stay in place to the end.

Where is hospice licensed across Fairfield County?

Here is how the state and CMS records distribute Medicare-certified hospices and DPH hospice licenses across Fairfield County's towns; 16 of the 23 towns have none.