Hospice Care

When is the right time for Bluegrass Hospice Care?

Many people are surprised to learn hospice is for weeks and months of care, not just for the last days of life. That time often begins when a physician expects a patient to live six months or less if their illness or disease runs its normal course.

You may have known us as Hospice of the Bluegrass. We are now known as Bluegrass Hospice Care, one of the many services provided by Bluegrass Care Navigators. Yet we’re still the same great provider with the same great team – with the same heart, commitment and expertise that built our reputation in the communities we’ve served since 1978.

Increasing comfort and dignity during life's final months with Bluegrass Hospice Care.

How can Bluegrass Hospice Care help you or your loved one?

We begin by listening and finding out what's most important to you, then we connect you to the right care. After learning your needs and goals, we assign a personal team of experts to provide special care and support through a combination of the following services that are tailored to you:

Pain and symptom management

Preventing or managing pain and other symptoms.

When pain, trouble breathing, anxiety or other bothersome symptoms of an illness reduce comfort and quality of life for you or a loved one, Bluegrass Care Navigators can ease suffering and improve quality of life for both the patient and caregiver. The goal is to keep patients as comfortable and active as possible.

Our board-certified physicians work closely with your doctors to manage care in a way that is right for you. Our nurses keep you comfortable and treat symptoms including nausea, restlessness, and others.
Help with activities of daily living
Assistance with your everyday activities.

Serious illness often causes physical limitations, making routine activities difficult tasks for you or your loved one. Our certified nursing assistants can help you perform these activities or do them for you, depending on your condition and situation:
- Personal care, including bathing, dressing and grooming
- Meal preparation
- Assistance with eating
- Light housekeeping/laundry
- Changing bed linens
- Transportation service
- Shopping or errands
Emotional and spiritual support

Expert support for emotional and spiritual peace

When you cope with a serious illness, a host of emotions can arise – anger, fear, depression, grief, guilt and other feelings. You don’t have to face these challenges alone.

Our expert team can provide counseling and connect families to other resources in their community, such as disease-specific support groups.

To help you cope with spiritual issues and questions, our team also features chaplains who are skilled at helping you connect with your beliefs to find meaning, comfort and peace, regardless of what faith you practice.
Medication and equipment management

Managing medicines and equipment to keep pace with changing needs.

As a serious illness or disease progresses, your needs for treatment and medical equipment can change, sometimes quickly.

For example, the type, dosage and frequency of medications might be adjusted at any time by your physicians. With our own pharmacy and full-time pharmacists, Bluegrass Care Navigators can respond quickly and may deliver new prescriptions and refills right to the patient’s bedside. Our nurses also monitor and manage prescription schedules to make sure patients are taking the right medications at the right time.

Likewise, needs for medical equipment often change during an illness. A patient may go from using a cane to a walker to a wheelchair. Needs may arise for a hospital bed, bedside commode or a shower chair. Bluegrass Care Navigators has the connections to get the right equipment delivered and set up wherever the patient calls home.
Caregiver Support

As a caregiver, you need care, too.

When a loved one is facing serious illness, we begin to define ourselves as caregivers. For many, becoming a caregiver offers connection, honor and the opportunity to express how deeply we care about our loved one. In a very real sense, it is a heroic role.

Taking care of a seriously ill loved one often comes with new demands and unfamiliar tasks, and often, caregivers don't receive education and training. Bluegrass Care Navigators can share our years of experience and insights, as well as our helping hands to build your caregiving skills and confidence.

From educational videos and tip sheets, hands-on teaching, to giving you a break from caregiving duties, our expert team is available to support you in the important role of caregiver.
Respite care

Take a break from hospice caregiving with respite care.

Caregivers need a break now and then. If a loved one is on hospice care, our trained volunteers can stay with them while the caregiver takes time to relax and refresh or tend to other duties away from home.

Need a longer break for an out-of-town trip or other reason? Respite care may also be available in one of our dedicated Hospice Care Centers.

Contact Bluegrass Care Navigators to learn more about respite care for your loved one – and how it can help you recharge.

Who does Bluegrass Hospice Care help?

Hospice patients no longer receive treatments to cure their terminal illness, but instead choose care to improve their comfort and quality of life.

Families of patients also benefit from Bluegrass Hospice Care. We train and coach family members as caregivers and provide emotional and spiritual support to help them during their loved one’s illness and through seasons of grief.

Where is Bluegrass Hospice Care provided?

We provide care wherever the patient calls home. While this is often a house or apartment, we also provide care at nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospitals.

If a patient’s care needs are too complicated for home care or require a higher level of attention from nurses and other experts, we can provide care at one of our Hospice Care Centers or with our Crisis Care team.

Bluegrass Hospice Care Center at UK Healthcare

Bluegrass Hospice Care Center at UK Healthcare

750 Rose Street
Lexington, KY 40536

Located on the third floor of UK's Ben F. Roach Building, the hospice care center has 10 private rooms, a common room and kitchen to provide many of the comforts of home for families and patients. Additionally, the center has expanded visitation hours to allow the family more time with their loved one.

This facility is one of only a handful of hospice inpatient care centers in the country located in an academic medical center. This unique collaboration offers opportunities to provide expert care as well as training and education on hospice and palliative medicine.

While UK Healthcare has operated virtual hospice beds for years, this inpatient unit is evidence of the enterprise's belief in the benefits of hospice care and the importance of having a dedicated staff of hospice experts available for patients who need them.
Greg and Noreen Wells Bluegrass Hospice Care Center in Hazard

Greg & Noreen Wells Hospice Care Center
101 Dennis Sandlin MD Cove
Hazard, KY 41701

There are times when a patient’s symptoms cannot be controlled in the home, or the family is unable to provide the care that is needed for a loved one in the home. In these times, the Greg and Noreen Wells Hospice Care Center may be an option.

This 12-bed care center, located in Hazard to serve southeastern Kentucky, offers patients, families and friends a homelike setting with private patient suites and outdoor patios. Spacious family rooms help to provide many of the comforts of home while enabling families to remain involved in the patient’s care. Dedicated staff and volunteers provide a variety of services to ensure the comfort of patients and families.

Check out the Bluegrass Hospice Care Center at UK HealthCare with this online video tour.

Check out the Greg & Noreen Wells Hospice Care Center.

We provide the right care at the right time and are committed to building a more equitable and inclusive healthcare system so that all feel welcomed, valued and have access to care, especially within the Hispanic/Latinx communities. We provide services that enable us to communicate with you and your loved one in Spanish.

Watch María's full interview