Vitas HealthcareReviews of vitas.com

I am writing this with a heavy heart after the devastating experience my family had with Vitas Hospice Care while my brother was under their care. What we went through should never happen to any family. On Saturday, we asked the supervising nurse, Matt, to classify my brother as imminent so he could receive proper comfort measures, including morphine. Matt refused, saying it wasn’t necessary. By Sunday evening, my brother began shutting down, and his breathing became labored. We called for help immediately, but the nurse did not arrive until nearly an hour later. At that point, we were told morphine was needed, but because Matt had refused to mark him imminent the day before, no prescription had been issued. From midnight until 3:00 AM, we were on the phone for hours with the nurse, the pharmacist, and the doctor, desperately trying to get the prescription approved. We were sent to a 24-hour Walgreens, where we stood waiting, exhausted and terrified, while the nurse assured us the prescription would be ready by 1:00 AM. But at 3:00 AM, we were still waiting — the doctor hadn’t signed the order, Walgreens was waiting on the insurance company, and my brother was at home suffering without relief. My brother passed away at 3:20 AM, still in pain, without ever receiving the morphine he so desperately needed. This experience was beyond inhumane. We trusted Vitas Hospice to provide compassion and comfort during my brother’s final moments, but instead, we were left to fight for basic pain management while watching him suffer. No family should have to go through this. Vitas failed us when we needed them most, and I sincerely hope they review their protocols and hold their staff accountable so no other family has to endure what we did.

Aggressive Respiratory Therapist So far everyone who has come to my parents home has been wonderful to care for my father except one very Aggressive angry and inappropriate Respiratory Therapist . I only had one question about a piece of equipment in our home , he refused to answer any questions that I had, instead he talked condescendingly towards me and asked me what did I know about Respiratory Therapy even inquiring and demanding to know where I worked for my entire career as a Registered Nurse then where did I work as a Nurse Practitioner and what did the Respiratory Therapist where I work was responsible for. Then he said over and over I wasn't giving him the type of RESPECT that he deserved . He really upset my Dad who is terminally ill my Dad was screaming at him . Then he insisted on telling me how his own father died and said I wasn't thinking clearly. He Then accused me of calling him a slang name .... which I didn't . I may forget after a few years exactly what he said BUT I WILL NEVER FORGET HOW HE MADE ME FEEL . Embarrassed, angry , defeated. Unheard . Very inappropriate. I've been in Healthcare for over 40 years and would NEVER talk to a grieving family member in that way . SHAME ON YOU !!!!! Terrible how one bad apple can ruin the entire cart.

After waiting several days for the VA to coordinate care with VITAS, we finally were contacted and my dad was in the final days. The first hospice nurse did not exhibit much empathy or patience. She also did not ensure that my father was positioned safely and securely in the hospice bed. This resulted in his oxygen line being blocked and he was gasping and choking for air. In addition, she did not have some of the basic necessities including items to help give him water and keep his lips moist. She prescribed pills that needed to be crushed rather than liquid. She also demonstrated judgment of our choice to have him receive an IV with a private company the day before and said not to do it again. Finally, the next nurse did not show up as expected and we waited for about 12 hours to finally receive support. She reported to her supervisor that we told her verbally (on the phone) not to come, which was a blatant lie. We were desperate for help and communicated that fact. My dad died just hours after that nurse (who was incredible, but a bit too late after everything my father had been through.) Then, they sent the same no-show nurse to the house once my dad had passed away and she didn't apologize or help in any way.

My father did not ever receive a comfort care kit, and he went into terminal restlessness that was the most heartbreaking event I've ever experienced. The nurse called to help with it would not stop talking and flirted with my brother. My father was clearly suffering from pain, organ failure and lack of oxygen. He was picking and pulling at his bedsheets in a fetal position, as his caregiver (private, not a Vitas CNA) woke us up in the early morning hours because it was so disturbing and unmanageable. We had no idea what to do, had no morphine or anti anxiety meds to give him while he struggled, and we were horrified. 10 days leading up to this, he was poorly managed with inappropriate medications, there was complete chaos with delivering equipment and meds that were not appropriate to his condition, and nursing staff who couldn't be bothered to work weekends, leaving us to try to figure out what would happen if he died, since he willed his body to science and a nurse needed to be there to confirm and record his death. Even when he was imminent, we were left alone with him to figure it out on our own. Ten years later, it still haunts me, and my father was treated horribly by Vitas. The night before he died, I fired Vitas and brought in St. Michaels, who took over and made the experience calm and professional. Vitas was terrible and I would not recommend them, not ever. Some of the nurses were incredibly good, but the administrators don't listen and don't help. The chaos that went on in our home from the lack of organization at Vitas is unforgettable and unforgivable. It happened in October of 2014, but I can't push back that far in time in this post, but it still haunts me horribly to this day the way that Vitas cared for my father.

Vitas Healthcare was supposed to help my brother, though he passed way before they started. Since then, 7 months ago, they keep sending me letters - with my name misspelled despite the fact I repeatedly told them early on that they needed to fix their mispelling. I don’t understand why they keep sending stuff. My brother passed. I return everything unopened because they are sending mail to a nonexistent named person.

It feels like it just happened today because the bad memories of Vitas are forever in my mind. It has been over 10 years since I fired Vitas less than 24 hours before my father died, and hired St. Michael's in their place. I am still traumatized by my experience with Vitas. There were so many problems administratively and structurally, but the nursing staff who helped my dad were fabulous. It's not their fault that the company sucks. They had drugs delivered from a pharmacy that was at least an hour's drive away, so everything was always late. They never gave us a comfort kit to manage my dad's anxiety or pain when it got really bad. They often did not have any staff available on weekends, and when my dad was close to death, we needed a nurse to pronounce him because he willed his body to science, and without a medical professional there at his moment of death, that would not have been possible. Vitas was well aware of this condition. We could not get anyone to be there, and when superior staff came to evaluate him, they would stand around in his room talking on their cell phones, sometimes three at a time, and he was easily agitated since he had a series of strokes. So we had more people than needed when we didn't need them, and no one available when we needed them the most. Getting my dad set up for hospice with them was a nightmare. Constant phone calls to deliver things he didn't need, always checking to see if someone would be home to sign for deliveries, duh, he was dying, we couldn't leave him by himself! The chaos was unbearable. When they told me we would have no one on the weekend when he was the worst, and two women were in his room laughing, joking around while he was in a coma, then told me no one would be able to be there for the weekend, so I asked them to leave and not come back, since they clearly could not provide the service we desperately needed. Then I immediately signed up with St. Michael's, and my dad died the next day, with a competent nurse taking care of him. We were then able to fulfill his body donation, and I found out that he had not ever been properly medicated by Vitas, that St. Michael's did things in a much better systematic way with more appropriate medications. To this day, I feel terrible about the way Vitas treated my father and me. It was such a horrible experience, and it still haunts me, and it should have been so much more professionally managed. It was a chaotic mess, and by comparison with the calmness with St. Michael's, I would caution anyone from ever using Vitas. Some of the nurses were great, but the administration of their hospice program, and their administrators, are absolutely the worst. At a time when things should have been focused on my father, I had to focus on what Vitas wanted. It was so unjust. And really sticks with me to this day, especially because I cannot change what Vitas did to make my father's ending worse than it had to be. It's unforgivable.

As an analytical, quality manager I am attuned to a lot. We chose Vitas because of their mitigation plan. However, shortly into this program… I had to request specific wound products and educate the nurse about wound care and other fluid management. This enough is reportable to the health governing bodies. In addition, their team competency of the doctor to manage pain is sub par, logistics and delivery management of care products is ridiculously ineffective, requested and required items were either “unavailable or delayed,” without notice for weeks or simply revoked the order because “ the secretary didn’t believe it was needed.” Indicating this is a RoI issue not a care issue. They have no wound care specialist for a hospice team which is the number one issue hospice patients need education and action. Vitas has had many opportunities to initiate, educate, and perform even with my detailed help and education; they refused to deliver properly. Their manager on staff of teams, does not have the insight or access to basic metrics. Their LCSWs are useless as they complete no due diligence in evaluating proper care and treatment for respite locations. Unable to manage a proper schedule, teams inundates with facade actions. Instead they recommend their newly built facility to fill beds and pockets because of the new trend of health facility demand going up because of the poor health providing in the first place. I would hate to have a family go here to receive support when you are overwhelmed, uneducated in the field, does not inquire, trusting, and/or has faith in humanity. What a joke. Below status quo of the u.s.

I had a horrible experience with Vitas healthcare!!! The nurse STACEY WALKER talked very bad about my father in a very ill way. I was able to confirm this when I pulled the body cam footage on the day my father was found deceased by her. She probably thought I would never be able to know. Also, who brings THEIR husband in the house when he IS NOT an employee. Truly crosses the line of respect and dignity. That is enough for me to expose this company on tik tok videos are in the process of being made. They haven’t wanted to make it right with me let alone call me about this issue. Also, I’m willing to text the body cam footage to anyone that wants it. The nurse didn’t care about my feeling so in return I don’t care about hers. Maybe you’ll think twice about what you’ve done. The damage you caused me. PLEASE IF YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT GOING WITH VITAS I BEG YOU NOT TO!!!!!