Compassionate is completely unethical and had failed my Dad in every aspect while he was under their care. My dad was with Compassionate Care for 3 weeks before he passed away. From the beginning, they had illegally altered our contract after it was signed, which should have been a clear sign.
We were constantly low on basic supplies: Diapers, wipes, shampoo, and gloves. My mom is almost 80 years old and unable to run around looking for supplies. I had to make calls after calls to the office and nurses to chase after supplies that kept getting denied or delayed. At one point, my dad was down to 6 diapers in the middle of night due to his ongoing diarrhea. They refused to ship more until the next scheduled shipment. At my urging, they ended up shipping the next day as a “one time courtesy” and I was told it wouldn’t be fair to other patients otherwise. He was still waiting for his bottle of shampoo (that we requested the week prior) on the day the bathing aid was scheduled to come, which was also the day he passed away. We were told at one point by a Compassionate nurse to find baby shampoo in the house to use. My parents are 80 years old!!
When my dad was tested Covid positive, I requested to be supplied enough tests for him to be tested daily. The nurse only brought one pack with 2 tests which she used one during her visit. When I asked her for more Covid tests, she responded that it wasn’t necessary to test my Dad every day and that “the caregiver didn’t seem to care anyways” when she visited. Again, my mom is almost 80 years old and live under the same roof.
During my dad’s last week when he was in excruciating pain, the assigned nurse canceled on him two times. The only two times she was scheduled to come that week. Once she canceled 20 minutes before the scheduled visit, and the other time she canceled an hour after the scheduled visit. Both times, they had to squeeze him into another nurse’s schedule so I was unable to make it to the appointment as I live an hour and half away. Both nurses were clear about squeezing him in to make the point that I cannot be picky with the appointment times. With the already minimal visits, none of the nurses ever reached out and check on him. On his last day, I reached out to his assigned nurses, again as I had multiple times in the past, about his excruciating pain and uncontrollable diarrhea and was told they were both off that weekend and someone will contact me. Six hours later, one of them finally texted to ask if someone had contacted me, and I told her no. She asked a couple questions as if she’s clueless about his condition, and went radio silent without providing any remedy. The issues basically went ignored.
That same night (the night of my Dad’s passing), when my Dad was making death rattle sounds, they refuse to send a nurse out even at my request after multiple calls. We were told to give him Levsin from his comfort kit and a nurse will visit in the morning. Apparently, that drug was not stocked in my Dad’s comfort kit. The comfort kit was never checked by any of the nurses during their visits as it should have. A nurse finally came out after she realized from talking to the caregiver that my dad did not have the drug at home. My Dad had already passed upon her arrival. I also did not arrive in time to catch my Dad’s last breath. Levsin might have bought him more time for my sister and me to arrive, especially if I was told on the phone repeatedly that a nurse’s visit can wait till the morning after given the medication.
We had already suspected something’s really not right with Compassionate Care after the second week. After talking to health professionals, senior facilities and other hospice services, we realized Compassionate Care’s practice was unethical and even illegal. We had already made arrangements to switch to another hospice, but it was too late. My dad passed that early morning, the same day we scheduled to transfer to a different hospice.