Healthy Aging

Hospice Care

NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital operates an inpatient hospice unit in partnership with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York Hospice. The beds are reserved for patients who are transitioning to an outpatient hospice facility or to home hospice care.

Hospice care is for people for whom a cure is no longer possible and who are believed to have six months or less to live. Care is offered in a specialty institution, or, more frequently, in the home. Hospice care emphasizes quality of life rather than the length of life, and the hospice treatment plan is driven by the end-of-life wishes of patients and families. Many people with terminal illnesses choose to discontinue curative treatment and instead focus on making their remaining time as comfortable as possible for themselves and their families.

At NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital's transitional hospice unit, an interdisciplinary team that includes the hospice physician, skilled nurses, social workers, the hospice nurse coordinator, and chaplains collaborates with the patient's attending physician to create an individualized plan of care that meets the evolving needs of the patient.