VITAS Healthcare Milpitas, CA

This review is going to be mixed. I'll try to make a long story short. We were told that a nurse would be present prior to my dad's arrival, we were told all the equipment would be there too. Unfortunately no nurse was present when my dad was dropped off, not only that but the mask he needed for his trache tube was not there. The EMT left a mask for a patient without a trache tube just so my dad could have oxygen. Our case manager was on vacation we found out, and we found out my dad wasn't their system of people to see that day. So they tried to send someone out ASAP... an hour and an hour and a half later a case manager finally arrived... she noticed not all the equipment was present. His nutrition machine was there, but no nutrition. When Nutrition finally arrived, the machine didn't work so my sister and I had to manually feed my dad every 4hrs through his feeding tube. Throughout the course of a week, different Vitas nurses pointed out things that were missing. Every nurse we had was outstanding, they all get 5 stars. ESPECIALLY the one we had on day 2 and again on day 7. On day 2 she told us we needed to clean his trache tube daily, the person we had on day one wasnt familiar with the tube and neither was she. In fact, EVERY nurse we called to help us suction my dad DID NOT KNOW how to clean his trache tube. They were unfamiliar with this kind. On day 7 the nurse told us "Off the record, if this was my loved one... I would call 911.. our job is to provide comfort care..and I cannot do my job if I don't know how to clean this tube" She explained that this trache tube not being cleaned could cause an infection, she was worried there was a block because nothing was coming out when she suctioned him. We called 911. Fire department and paramedics came.. .they told us he had pneumonia and respiratory failure. When he got to the hospital they suctioned him and got a massive block out of the way and suctioned A LOT of mucus. It wasn't the best experience... again.. mixed review. The nurses were all VERY kind, we loved them and they all taught us something new each time. But we are not happy that nobody was there upon arrival, that equipment was missing, there was no sign in for the nurses, none of the vitas nurses were trained on this specific trache tube. I wish I could say he passed in peace, but he passed at the hospital 3 days later.. after being suctioned and struggling to breathe..

Stanford provided a few options and my sister-in-law chose Vitas. It was to be the biggest mistake she could have made. The nurse, Ingrid, was hardly ever there and when she was, spent most of her time in the car on her cell phone. She made suggestions that would lead ultimately to a torturous last days and moments for my brother. I implore you at the very least to spare yourselves the experience and look elsewhere. Ingrid's actions were criminal in my opinion and the opinion of my family.

We had VITAS for my sister. We fired them due to them not providing the DME equipment. They said that all the DME equipment was going to be there prior to my sister's arrival, but it was not. My sister was on the gurney from the ambulance waiting in the hallway. It wasn't a smooth transistion. With the whole admission process, the staff was fine, but then when it came time for patient care, I think she was not engaged and wasn't fully doing her job.

Vitas Healthcare was great. They were very caring to my mom and provided excellent service. First, it was just a nurse coming every other day or maybe two or three times a week, but my mom only lasted less than two weeks. There were aides and nurses, and they were all great. I can't say anything bad. They gave my mother exceptional care. They took care of everything, put out the equipment, the bed, and oxygen, and took care of all the medications. I didn't have to worry about anything. One caregiver, in particular, really took a lot of care with my mom. She made sure she was bathed and took care of her hair. She just wanted to be on top of it all. My mom and I felt very comfortable with her.