Capital Hospice

Provides expert medical care and emotional, spiritual and practical support to 900+ seriously ill people in N. Virginia/DC/Maryland and their families each day, regardless of their ability to pay.

How do you help people in my community?

Capital Hospice provides services in Northern Virginia, including the “close-in” communities of Alexandria, Falls Church, and Arlington, and further west and south in Loudon (Leesburg) and Prince William (Manassas) counties; Washington, DC; and Prince George’s County, Maryland.  If you or someone you know needs hospice care in these communities, please call 1-800-869-2136.

Why do you need my support?

The need for hospice is growing dramatically.  According to several studies, most people prefer to die at home, and increasingly, more Americans now die at home or in hospice care than in hospitals.  Another study reveals that home-based hospice care consistently receives high levels of satisfaction from patients and families.

At the same time, however, the cost of providing care—particularly to those who are uninsured and under-insured—has increased. In 2009, Capital Hospice’s cost for unreimbursed charity care was $1.2 million.

Contributions to Capital Hospice allow us to care for others in need in our community in many different ways:

• Serve more than 5,200 patients and families every year – from infants to grandparents, patients with cancer, Alzheimer’s, lung and heart diseases, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and AIDS.

• Care for 500 acutely ill patients a year at Halquist Memorial Inpatient Center in Arlington. The Inpatient Center is a 15-bed, home-like facility that offers care to patients with acute systems or whose families need respite care.

• Respond to more than 72,000 calls for help and assistance 'round the clock from patients and caregivers in our program.  Capital Hospice’s After-Hours Call Center is a signature program and one of very few in the country.

• Through our grief and loss programs, offer solace and support to more than 3,200 individuals in our community who experience grief, loss, or trauma. Capital Hospice provided extensive counseling to families throughout the Washington metropolitan region after the 9-11 attack on the Pentagon.

• Train and educate more than 200 nurses, home health aides, and physicians in hospice and palliative care.  Capital Hospice’s Center for Outcomes, Research and Education is on the forefront of research and education in quality end-of-life care.

How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?

Capital Hospice must raise between $7 and 8 million every year to cover the costs of care that is not reimbursed by Medicare or private insurance – that amount covers the full cost of 250,000 days of patient care.  Additionally, because Capital Hospice does not turn anyone away, we spend more than $1.2 million each year in charity care for terminally ill patients who come to us for care without any insurance.  Eighty-nine cents of every dollar that is contributed to Capital Hospice goes directly to our care of patients and their families.

Can I Volunteer? How?

Compassionate, skilled volunteers are the heart and soul of Capital Hospice. Our organization was founded by volunteers and continues to rely on their generosity and commitment to offer a caring, cost-effective program.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, you probably have been touched by the experience of hospice care—either within your own family or through a friend, neighbor or co-worker. Our volunteers report they are motivated by the desire to give something back, but soon find that the spiritual and emotional rewards they receive far outweigh the time and caring they contribute.

If you choose to work directly with patients and loved ones, you can experience the fulfillment of helping to support patients and families through one of life’s most complex passages. If the intensity of working with patients and loved ones is not the right fit, however, you can support Capital Hospice’s work in a host of other important ways, such as:

• Assist with administrative duties in one of our offices
• Help to plan an annual fundraising event
• Pitch in with landscaping duties on the lovely grounds of our inpatient facility in Arlington
• Staff the Capital Hospice Thrift Shop in Falls Church, or the Capital Treasures upscale retail store in Leesburg

For more information about volunteering with Capital Hospice, visit www.capitalhospice.org/volunteer/opportunities or call 703-538-2065.