Hoffmann Hospice

Our Story

Since 1995, Hoffmann Hospice has been Kern County’s only locally founded non-profit hospice serving over 20,000 patients including adults, children and veterans who have a serious or terminal illness, regardless of their ability to pay. Our mission is to celebrate the sanctity of life, provide compassionate end-of-life care and comfort the grieving. Hoffmann Hospice serves the majority of the communities in Kern County and the Antelope Valley. To this day, the agency is one that the community can continue to call its own- with no owners or shareholders- guided under the leadership of local Board of Directors members. Our services include but are not limited to: Physician services Social services Spiritual care Bereavement Services Private Transportation for patients Medical equipment, medication and supplies Pain and Symptom management 24-hour access to on-call hospice nurses Education and resources for the patient and family *** A patient can continue to see their primary physician and specialists; Hoffmann Hospice maintains relationships with physician and hospitals to ensure that all patients receive the best care possible. ***Hospice care is covered by most insurance plans including Medicare, Medi-cal and private insurances. As a non-profit hospice, Hoffmann Hospice cares for patients regardless of their ability to pay. ***If you are 65 years and older and have Medicare, it is the patient’s right to choose their hospice provider. Hospice Team Members Physicians Registered Nurses Licensed Vocational Nurses Certified Hospice Aides Certified EMTs Chaplains Social Workers Trained Volunteers The Nonprofit Choice Hoffmann Hospice is the only nonprofit hospice in the areas it currently serves. As a nonprofit, Hoffmann is able to go above and beyond by providing the following: Private transport vehicles (ambulances) Care for unfunded patients Enhance patient’s quality of life o Fulfill patient wishes (Skydive, Baptism, Holiday lights) Offer community resources o Celebrate patient birthdays and anniversaries o Grief Support groups for Adults, Children/Teens and Healing Hearts (Parents who have lost children) o Grief Support Holiday Luncheon o Grief Support Ornament Decorating o Heart Art Camp for kids o Community Memorial Event Light Up A Life o Crisis Intervention o Have You Had the Talk? (Advance Directive Program) o Voices of Inspiration Starlight Pediatric Program When facing the serious illness of a child, parents will go to any length to help their child. But even then, sometimes the miracles of modern medicine are not enough. When that time comes, there truly is no place like home. Hoffmann hospice understands how difficult it is for parents to make the hospice decision for their child as their pediatric Teams have been caring for pediatric patients since 1995. Many parents feel as though they are somehow “giving up” by choosing hospice care, but that isn’t the case at all. Hospice is merely a shirting of focus – to helping a child live as full and pain free life as possible. The Starlight Pediatric Program cares for children and adolescents from birth to 20 years of age who have a life limiting medical condition or illness. Many of our pediatric patients are not expected to reach adulthood and may be in the program for many years. In many cases, families may continue to seek curative treatment (Concurrent Care) or may decide to solely begin comfort and symptom management. Illness can include but are not limited to: Heart Diseases Lung Diseases Neurological disorders Genetic or metabolic diseases Neuromuscular disease Cancers and Tumors The Pediatric Program is overseen by Hoffmann Pediatric Medical Director Sudhir Patel who has over 23 years of experience as a pediatrician; many of those years practicing pediatric intensive care. Dr. Patel is currently the Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Units at Kern Medical Center and San Joaquin Hospitals in Bakersfield, CA. The pediatric nurses receive comprehensive training from the End of Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) in the areas of pediatric assessment, pain treatment, medications, grieving and more. Our goal is to prepare parents in assuming the role as primary caregiver while providing and interdisciplinary care team for the patient and the family as support. We Honor Veterans Program For those who answered their country’s call, we’re here to help you answer your final call. The We Honor Veterans program is collaboration between the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs whose mission is to “ensure that veterans receive the best possible care in the best possible manner and setting while honoring veterans’ preferences.” Hoffmann Hospice is proud to be the only hospice provider in Kern County and the Antelope Valley to have achieved the highest ranking as a Level Four Partner with the We Honor Veteran Program showing its dedication to fulfilling this mission. At the end of life, many veteran hospice patients need support with medical, emotional, spiritual and psychological needs that differ from a civilian hospice patient. These include needs dependent upon the specific war that they served in, trauma they experienced, service-related diseases and the needs of homeless veterans. The Hoffmann Hospice teams, some of which are veterans and veterans’ spouses along with Veteran to Veteran volunteers, receive continued training so that they are able to meet the unique needs of veterans and their families. Most importantly, the hospice team has a genuine compassion for veterans and that compassion led Hoffmann Hospice to meet their goal of achieving the highest level within the We Honor Veterans program. Hoffmann Hospice meets the unique needs of veterans and their families while connecting veterans and celebrating their finest military hours.