Transitions Hospice

K Lynnette

The "Sales Lady" talked a good game but, this service is far from attentive. They started off strong and quickly declined with communication. We were sold that our Mom would not be alone when her health declined and the end was near. If we would could not be with her, they would have been. That was not the case. Our Mom was neglected by their care and after she passed, alone in the middle of the night, we never heard from them again. This week they sent me a letter stating their "after care" has ended?? By the way, it never started so sending me a letter a year later was very upsetting. Please do not be "sold" on their services that they do not deliver. There are much better services out there that care more about their patients.

ShevonWalker

My mother was a hospice patient back in June for about two weeks with this provider. The young lady that completed my mother's intake at the hospital was very thorough, as was the nurse that met us back at the nursing home to admit my mother into the hospice program. And that was pretty much where my satisfaction with the service and care my mother received ends. My mother was not properly cared for by this provider or the long-term care facility. Communication wasn't good. A facility full of healthcare staff plus the provider's "professionals" and they continued to serve her solid food (like burgers...yes burgers) even though she was unable to sit up, chew, or swallow well. It wasn't until I demanded they put her on a soft or pureed diet that they finally changed it. My mother wasn't getting her medication regularly and sometimes she appeared to be uncomfortable or in pain. On the day my mother passed away, we received a call from the nursing home that morning stating my mother wasn't doing and that they had contacted the hospice nurse, what they didn't say is that the situation was in a dire state and needed to get there asap (I'm told experienced and well-trained providers would know this). I finished up at work early because something told me, "go now." I get to the nursing home to find my mother breathing laboriously, wide awake, and alone with the curtain pulled. I immediately started talking to her (and crying because I could believe they left her like this. alone and dying. They advertise that they would be there!). About 10 minutes or so after I arrived my mother stopped breathing. It breaks my heart to think about how long she may have been lying in that room alone struggling to breathe. Was she like that all morning? This provider was called that morning and didn't get there until later in the afternoon. My mother had been gone and if I hadn't got there when I did she would have died alone. I called to let them know how disappointed I was in the service we received. The person I spoke to apologized and said someone would be reaching out to me about my experience. My mother passed away 3 months ago and I still haven't heard back from this agency.

JSW SB

If I could, I would give zero stars. I have worked with two other hospice companies previously, and they were great. Transitions is horrible, and I fired them after two weeks. All seemed good when I first spoke with them, but quickly went downhill. Without boring you with the details, the bottom line is their communication was horrific, staff was disorganized, record keeping appeared to be non-existent, they didn't follow through, couldn't share any details about my mother's care plan, couldn't tell me when she had been seen - or by whom and what they did, and were unresponsive. I quickly started asking a lot of questions because their communication was so poor. There was a different RN every time - went through about 6-7 in 2 weeks. Finally they assigned one RN to be the case manager, she had a family tragedy, but they never told anyone. I was calling and texting her - no response (understandably), finally had to call the office. Don't believe for a second they will call you back in 5-15 minutes. They escalated my call, after 5 hours of no call back to an 'escalated' situation, I called again and was very upset that no one ever responded. Still took another hour to hear from a supervisor. When I told her they should have immediately notified the families this case manager was working with, to detail an interim plan, she said "oh, that's a good idea'. Really?!? A business like this doesn't have a backup plan in place?? That was just one issue. Transitions nurses let my mother's medications run out, never followed through on getting meds ordered, every nurse had a different list of meds - some of which are virtually deadly to my mother, and she had never been prescribed some of them. They don't share details or family input/requests internally, did not address her personal hygiene as they said they would, missed showers for a week at a time, and every conversation with an employee started from scratch. When I called the social worker to do a hospice to hospice transfer, she asked if the owner/owners could call me to get my feedback. I said yes, and of course - they never called. Kim, the social worker, was very helpful, about the only one there that was. Though I agreed to speak with the owners, it seemed pretty clear in my experience that they didn't care one bit. I have since found Suncrest, who has been phenomenal. They have clearly documented all issues, and everyone I speak to has the same information. They have the same RN seeing my mother twice a week, AND the same aide visits my mother 5 days a week - Mon to Fri. That is wonderful, and they are building relationships with my mother. With Transitions, it was always somebody new, aides only visited maybe once n 2 weeks (they claimed it was documented, but they couldn't find that information) and it was causing confusion with my mother. I am so disappointed - they seemed to be more focused on taking her off medications, seemingly to reduce costs, since they get a flat fee from Medicare. Suncrest is not taking her off ANY medications that have been prescribed by her physician. I am glad others had a better experience, mine has been the worst I have ever seen - and I have worked in healthcare for over 40 years. Steer clear.

Nancy

We have mom in hospice care through Transitions Hospice right now. I think she's going to be staying in her condominium. They're great, very attentive, and very good. I haven't met them in person, but the caregiver we have from another agency is saying they're very good. Communication is very good. It's once a week and I get to talk to the nurse practitioner. She has visited my mom about once a week, and it's been great. I have a good rapport with her. The nurse practitioner is there once a week, but she's gonna skip a week because the COVID is very bad in our area, and she doesn't want to bring more people in. The CNAs that have come by have been very good. They're helping the 24-hour caregiver that we have. They are very professional, and they've been very communicative to me and responsive to my questions. I have confidence in what they're telling me. Everything they have said has come to fruition in terms of what they're going to do and what kind of services they provide.

Roxanne5

My mom went into Transitions Hospice LLC (Serving Cook County) on Thursday and she passed away on Saturday. She was not even in hospice care for forty eight hours, but we started getting calls and letters from the chaplain saying, 'We're handling it well,' and they had such a huge staff that came in and observed her, talked to us and called us. I would highly recommend Transitions. The service was excellent. They couldn't be nicer. They explained everything to us, what to expect. They were great with my mother.