The Covington News

Hospice helps families cope

Roger Barnes
Staff Writer

During medieval times, a hospice was a place where travelers, pilgrims and the sick, wounded or dying could find rest and comfort.

Modern hospices continue this tradition by offering comprehensive programs of at home care to patients facing life threatening illnesses and their families.

Located at 10920 Highway 278 in Covington, Abbey Hospice is where local families turn for physical, spiritual, emotional and social needs that come with having a terminally ill family member at home.

Abbey's staff of registered nurses, chaplains and counselors and their connection to local physicians, pharmacists and dietitians prove to be an invaluable resource in making an at home patient comfortable.

"When a family member is (terminally) sick, it can upset the lives of the rest of the family," Abbey Hospice co-owner Joan Lipovsky said, noting that medicine has to be administered, suffering has to be addressed and the emotional needs of the family met.

"If it's a grandparent, then there are grandchildren who are also affected by the illness," Lipovsky said.

These days, when doctors are less and less likely to make continuous house calls, Abbey Hospice provides the professional at home care that fills in the gaps for terminally ill patients and their families. The Hospice also provides its services at nursing homes and is planning to build an in-patient facility in Social Circle, according to Lipovsky.

Hospice services would have been useful to a local household which included two very ill elderly parents who were cared for by a daughter who worked during the day, Lipovsky recalls.

"Since she worked, she could not care for them around the clock," Lipovsky said.

Eventually one of the parents died. The hospice, which accepts both Medicare and Medicaid, could have made their final days less miserable and painful, Lipovsky said.

"Some patients can be on as many as 30 medicines. Our pharmacist can sometimes take them down," she said. "Some medications may interfere with others that have already been prescribed. The doctor didn't know because he didn't ask."

The professionals at Abbey Hospice can help here too, she said.

Founded in February 2000 when co-owners Lipovsky and Ellen Petry grew tired of working for a similar facility in Atlanta, Abbey has found its niche in Covington.

"There was nothing out here," Lipovsky says, "There was a great need and a great opportunity."

Now the two run offices in Covington, where the atmosphere is light-hearted and friendly but also professional and dedicated.

Though the average "stay" of a patient has been 45 days in 2002, and the hospice usually provides services for patients who are diagnosed as having six months or less to live, there are patients who have been treated by the hospice for longer than expected periods of time.

The hospice admitted 195 at home patients in 2002 but cared for 234 last year, as some patients carried over from previous years.

Some patients even recover and no longer require the services of the hospice, said Lipovsky whose patients all come from within a 50-mile radius of her location.

"By law, our patients need to be reached by our on-call registered nurse when our offices are not open," she said.

Most patients are recommended to the hospice from a doctor. Patients can call the hospice but they can't be admitted until the hospice contacts a doctor, Lipovsky said.

As life expectancy increases, Lipovsky sees a greater need for palliative care. That is simply providing care that eases the misery of the elderly who suffer the cumulative problems of age.

20 years ago 80 was old," Lipovsky said. "Today we have patients who are 90, 92 and 97 years old," she said. "People need to know that there's a possibility of care.