End of life care for undocumented immigrants

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

I am writing to get ideas on a heartbreaking matter. I spoke to Gail

Maurer today. She is the Psychosocial/ Bereavement Director at HPC Healthcare

Inc., a hospice organization that serves Hillsborough, Highlands, Polk and Hardee Counties

in Florida.

She called to discuss the situation with undocumented immigrants in her

community. With some frequency undocumented patients are discharged from the

hospital or other inpatient facilities and have absolutely no place to stay, no

family, no home, nowhere. In many of these cases HPC has cared for the patients

at their facility until they made their transition. Of course, all hospice

patients are terminally ill. However, HPC is not really equipped to do this on

a regular basis and is looking for viable alternatives. With patients who have

Medicaid or other forms of insurance, they are able to place them in nursing

homes or other facilities, which will not accept undocumented immigrants

without insurance. County programs for the indigent also exclude undocumented

immigrants.

We discussed the situation and came up with a few ideas, including

getting the word out to the community, where compassionate individuals might be

willing to let these people stay with them until they die. Another idea but

longer term is to write a grant to fund some of their care. I told her I would

send an email to my contacts and see if others have had experience with this or

have ideas about possible solutions. It is so sad to think of someone being so

alone at the end of their life. Please let us know if you have experience with

this, or other ideas about how to address the situation. Gail’s contact

info is below and I have copied her on this email. I would appreciate being

kept in the loop so I can learn more about this.

Thank you.

Gail Maurer

Gail Maurer, LCSW, PhD

Corporate Psychosocial/Bereavement

Director

HPC Healthcare, Inc.

12973 N. Telecom Pkwy.,

Suite 100

Temple Terrace, FL 33637

Direct: (813) 871-8017

Fax: (813) 871-8470

E-mail: maurerg@...

Kay Sologaistoa

Florida

Association of Community Health Centers

2340 Hansen Lane

Tallahassee,

Florida 32301

Phone: (850) 942-1822 (ext 208)

Fax: (850) 942-9902

erin@...

www.fachc.org

[Guest guest]

- while it is not an optimal option, there is also the possibility

of helping the person get back to their home country. In speaking to several

Mexican Consulates they have indicated that helping co-nationals return home is

a major element of their work portfolio. This may be the case with other

countries. If Gail is interested in having our Health Network staff work on

helping people get back to their country- with the person’s consent- this

is something we could do. It is a terrible circumstance and as I said not a

great option but one to consider. Best, Del

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of Sologaistoa

Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 10:53

AM

Cc: maurerg@...

Subject: [ ]

End of life care for undocumented immigrants

Hi Everyone,

I am writing to

get ideas on a heartbreaking matter. I spoke to Gail Maurer today. She is the

Psychosocial/ Bereavement Director at HPC Healthcare Inc., a hospice

organization that serves Hillsborough, Highlands, Polk and Hardee Counties

in Florida.

She called to discuss the situation with undocumented immigrants in her

community. With some frequency undocumented patients are discharged from the

hospital or other inpatient facilities and have absolutely no place to stay, no

family, no home, nowhere. In many of these cases HPC has cared for the patients

at their facility until they made their transition. Of course, all hospice

patients are terminally ill. However, HPC is not really equipped to do this on

a regular basis and is looking for viable alternatives. With patients who have

Medicaid or other forms of insurance, they are able to place them in nursing

homes or other facilities, which will not accept undocumented immigrants

without insurance. County programs for the indigent also exclude undocumented

immigrants.

We discussed the

situation and came up with a few ideas, including getting the word out to the

community, where compassionate individuals might be willing to let these people

stay with them until they die. Another idea but longer term is to write a grant

to fund some of their care. I told her I would send an email to my contacts and

see if others have had experience with this or have ideas about possible

solutions. It is so sad to think of someone being so alone at the end of their

life. Please let us know if you have experience with this, or other ideas about

how to address the situation. Gail’s contact info is below and I have

copied her on this email. I would appreciate being kept in the loop so I can

learn more about this.

Thank you.

Gail Maurer

Gail Maurer, LCSW, PhD

Corporate Psychosocial/Bereavement Director

HPC Healthcare, Inc.

12973 N. Telecom Pkwy., Suite 100

Temple Terrace, FL 33637

Direct: (813) 871-8017

Fax: (813) 871-8470

E-mail: maurerghpchealthcare (DOT) org

Kay Sologaistoa

Florida

Association of Community Health Centers

2340 Hansen Lane

Tallahassee,

Florida 32301

Phone: (850) 942-1822 (ext 208)

Fax: (850) 942-9902

erin@...

www.fachc.org