Tmc Hospice

Beautiful facility filled with wonderful employees. Despite having a very difficult job. The staff and volunteers make you feel comfortable and at home while you are going through the roughest time in your life.

If you're reading this, I'm so sorry for what is going on in your life because it means all is not right in your world and it's time to admit you gave it a good fight but it's time to let go ~ either for you or your loved one.TMC Hospice, or Peppi's House as it is officially known, is an amazing hospice full of caring, loving people who want nothing more than to help you manage your pain as you ease in to the next life.The facility is gorgeous with four separate wings or pods, each housing four spacious, private rooms and access to a private walled in garden patio where the patient's bed can be wheeled outside. Each of the pods has a large family room with kitchenettes, TVs, big comfy couches and computers. A small chapel is housed within Peppi's House as well. A large labyrinth is on the grounds and open to the public. It's a wonderful, healing and meditative place to walk and gather your thoughts.The staff and volunteers are the most caring and respectful people I've come across in a long time. My husband was treated with such love and there was no patronizingly forced niceness or insincerity. Even in his final hours, our nurses spoke to him with love and kindness in their voices. They were never in the way and gave family members the time and space that was needed.Hospice is such an incredible and personal service and as odd as it is to say, I highly recommend Peppi's House if this is the path you're on.

Let me start by saying that my experience up until I had to deal with the social worker was wonderful. My grandfather was placed on hospice care for only 3 days and passed away on a Saturday. The nurse involved with his care came out to my house and when I talked to her about needing documentation for school to support my withdrawal from classes she advised me that I would talk to the social worker who would be out the following Monday to provide me with that documentation. So Monday comes along I never received a call from the social worker so I took it upon myself to call hospice and let them know what was going on. I get a call from the social worker Cydney and tell her what's going on, what my needs are and instead of even saying "I'm sorry for your loss" or even sounding the least bit empathetic, she says "oh you were on my list of stops today but because he passed I'm not going to stop by anymore." She also doesn't explain why she's not stopping by or what she was even going to stop by for. Then she says for me to text her what I'm needing in my documentation for school. So I do. She never acknowledges my message to show she even received it or followed up with me letting me know if I even provided her with sufficient enough information. So on Tuesday, I call hospice to make a complaint and I speak with the charge nurse she explains why they don't make a trip out after the patient has passed. Okay, fine. I told her my grandmother wasn't sure in terms of resources for additional assistance who she can contact or who to reach out to. Charge nurse says she will have social worker call me back. Social worker calls me back and is extremely rude with an attitude and says "I'm getting that letter mailed out today" doesn't say, "sorry for my delayed response in getting back to your message" I proceed to let her know my mom needs a document for bereavement pay she still so rudely asks for the company's name my mom works for, and her supervisors name (it's a generic letter so not sure why a supervisor is necessary when it's being mailed to my house only for my mom to give it to her own supervisor.) I told her I don't have that information, she says "well why don't you give your mom my information and have her call me" Infuriated I hung up and called hospice back and explained that I needed to speak to an executive director. They told me they would have the manager call me back. Manager calls me back and is just as rude as the social worker stating that after a patient has died they no longer need to come out. I said that is fine but it's the attitude behind everything that is unacceptable and the lack of communication on social workers part that is upsetting. Manager states, "I'm sorry you FEEL she was rude to you" I don't feel she was rude to me, I know she was rude to me because she has to do her job and didn't feel like dealing with me at this point. Manager replies "so what do you want me to do at this point" well by this time I'm infuriated by the manager and starting to cry because I guess just being nice going the extra mile for a patients family is too hard. It's the way I was treated that is so upsetting. I told the manager that in a month when I receive my letter form the state asking how my experience was, that I would be mentioning this and manager seemed to not care all I was told was "that's fine" and basically she will be sending a letter for my mom to the same address. It's not just about completing a task for someone, it's about how you speak to them. This is an extremely sensitive time for any person. Don't think it's too much to ask for a little sensitivity to how you speak to someone or handle their needs. Communication is key and if it had just been established and handled appropriately the first time it would've never escalated to this point. So disappointed in how everything with the social worker was handled.

Let me start out by stating that the nurses, the PCT, and the volunteers were beyond amazing. Especially Rhonda whom I can never thank enough as well as Craig, Rebecca, and Mathew. However I can not recommend because the social worker was MIA. I was there for 9 days and never once talked to her. I don't even know her name because I only saw her drive by on a scooter. When my Grandmother did finally die we had to go to her office to let her know. No warm fuzzies, no condolences, no hugs. She gave us the name and number of the mortuary to call. It ended up being the wrong number and she was no help in helping us track down my grandmother after an hour of phone calls! She also never told us about grief counseling nor have we heard or received my information about it other than our wonderful PCT recommending it. So I guess I will have to call and figure out how that works. My Grandmothers home hospice social worker Veronica Gibbes has kept in touch and had been invaluable at providing love and support even though she wasn't even obligated to. If you would like I can give Peppis house her number because the social worker there now did absolutely nothing to help us in a time that we are grieving and lost. We are trying to figure out what to do with social security and everything else on our own. Also please give the staff PCT regular hours!! It's hard to keep seing floaters because Rhonda is the only one remaining that is willing to go to TMC if there aren't enough beds. A familiar face and bonds are crucial at this time!!Also fair warning to families. They use the same medication on everyone regardless of age. Which is Ativan and either morphine or dilaudid. Once they start every 4 hour dosing it's going to accumulate. Ativan has a 12 hour half life and active metabolites snd also preservatives that accumulate and cause toxicity. I asked for benzodiazepines with shorter half lives and I asked for non opioids such as Toradol to manage pain and anxiety but they only use these. Please if you need to perform any last rights or blessings or have anything who want to say do it before they schedule the meds. They will not likely regain consciousness for the remainder of their life. I wish this had been discussed with us before it happened. My Grandmother was still sedated yet still continued to receive more medication. She was not awake for her last blessing which I had scheduled right before her next dose.

Peppi's is like a slice of Heaven. My dad knew he could finally relax and let go once he was brought here in April, 2013. The staff was amazing the patients room's were like a 5 star hotel. I was honored that my dad got to stay there. Loved you guys!

Our experience with Peppi's house was incredible. The staff was so attentive and considerate there and we cannot think how Dad's last week could have been any more comfortable.Victoria, the case coordinator, handled all the administrative paperwork from start to end, let us know what other services (like counseling) were available, and helped us find the right mortuary. We would have been so lost with out her help. I hope that when the time comes in every family, there will be a hospice service as good as Peppi's house available.I'm also going to give a shout out to the TMC nurses and doctors - all excellent, caring providers there, too.

The TMC Home Hospice service was more than we could have ever hoped for. Our team was Susan, Marybeth and Brian. After calling the Hospice Service, Susan came within an hour, assessed my 91-year-old father and had the Home Hospice equipment delivered that afternoon. The next day the rest of the Dream Team, Marybeth the Social Worker and Brian the Hospice nurse came and with the "Comfort Care Kit" (Morphine, Atropine & Lorazepam) and taught my sisters and I how and when to administer - plus very helpful easy to read and understand literature that explained exactly what was going to happen for the next week & how to administer the drugs to keep our father comfortable. They are very pragmatic and don't sugarcoat the process. Our father had four lucid days - very chatty and upbeat, and then slowed down for the last three days. Marybeth was totally available to us throughout. Our dad passed peacefully on August 11, 2022. Brian came out and made the declaration. We chose one of the only two independent Mortuaries in Tucson - Hudgel's Swan Funeral Home - and Brian Hudgel made the removal and paperwork so easy and comforting. Our father had the best Passing possible thanks to these caring people.

Loving care, so kind and so helpful. This is such a very hard time but they took such good care. It made this time of my life bearable