By the Bay Health

When you call hospice you are in a bad place and want someone who can help you navigate a very painful process. The Hospice By the Bay team was excellent. Our nurse, Josh Hayes, was so experienced, gracious and thoughtful. He made a world of difference for us. Other members of the team educated us and were always caring and nice.

My family's experience was not good. They said "call us, we are available 24-7" but when we called they didn't get a nurse to us for 7 hours. The nurses were wonderful when they were here, but communication was extremely poor when we called and commitments were not honored. We had to leave multiple messages for the social worker as well who was informed of the patient's passing, but did not reach out to us or even return calls in a timely manner. When we needed support, they let us down.

My grandmother was referred to this place by Kaiser for her terminal Illness. They were to provide hospice care. In case anyone who works there needs a refresher, the 4 goals of hospice are 1. Relieve the pain and suffering of the terminally ill. 2. Make possible a “good” death. 3. Help the family. 4. Assist in the search for meaning. I can tell you that Hospice by the Bay failed at ALL four of these goals. My grandmother passed away early this morning. Up until yesterday afternoon, she was screaming in pain. Screaming! “Keep increasing the Ativan” they say. We tell them that the Ativan is making her worse. I called my aunt who was a retired hospice nurse and told her there has to be something wrong because a person in hospice should not be screaming in pain. She told us to ask for haldol (which they had just given us yesterday). So when we gave that to her she finally settled down. I wouldn’t allow my pet snake to receive care from here. There was no comfort care. We were already dealing with a dying relative and they did nothing to help make her transition peaceful. NO. I do not recommend. At all.

My mom was referred to this hospice by her doctor, but when the admission nurse came to my moms home to see her she was denied care. Apparently they have a checklist and she didn’t tick every box in a single category. She died just two weeks later. The last week of her life was difficult and terrible. There are these moments that still haunt me, these forks in the road where things could have gone a different, better way. The day they turned her down is a big one.

My Dad just passed a couple of days ago. He had been under the care of By the Bay for almost 6 months. The last 2 weeks of his life were very difficult for him and his family. In our case they were incredibly supportive and responsive. I literally don’t know how I would Have navigate this without them.