But she agrees with Rawling's lament that hospice offers help that is too often not sought. Its threat is not VistaCare so much as the fact that people equate calling Hospice with welcoming death. Plus, when that call comes, it frequently comes too late for Hospice to work all its wonders. Hospice asks for months, not days. People feel they are throwing in the towel.
Hospice offers nursing, counseling, a chaplain, pain control and references for other needs.
Hospice charges for its care. But it also serves those who can't pay. At its core, Hospice is committed to finding time to live for its patients and, more than that, time to enjoy life. As Mefford has heard it said, in learning about death we learn how to live. Miller, a grandmother and tireless civic volunteer, left banking after 34 years to take the helm of an agency that had little choice but to link officially in 1998 with two Kentucky-based hospices.