The Nathan Adelson Story
Nathan Adelson was a beloved hospital administrator following a long, painful battle with stomach cancer, Mr. Adelson passed away. His family and friends realized that Southern Nevada lacked the expertise in end of life care so that terminally ill people could receive professional, compassionate and dignified end-of-life care. To honor Adelson’s memory, they worked to establish Nevada’s first hospice in 1978 and named it after their dear friend.
You are exploring hospice for a very good reason.
If you are looking into hospice, it means you are coming to terms with the end-of-life journey for you or someone for whom you care. Understandably, people find this stressful, go through some soul-searching, and struggle with new, unfamiliar responsibilities. As overwhelming as it may seem, choosing hospice will be a wise choice. With a caring hospice team as your partner, the difficult days ahead will also bring compassion, care, and hands-on support. No one wants their loved ones to go through this critical time alone, afraid or in pain. Yet many families don’t feel equipped to handle the specialized care needed for their loved one.
We have the well-deserved reputation as the “Hospice of Choice.”
Nathan Adelson Hospice, recognized as a national leader in hospice and palliative care, has cared for over 75,000 patients since we opened our doors forty years ago. During a typical year, over 4,000 patients receive our care, including over 1,000 veterans. We provide palliative care to nearly 3,000 more patients. We provide clinical staff support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We are a member of the National Partnership for Hospice Innovation, the National Hospice, and Palliative Care Organization, a participant in the We Honor Veterans program, and accredited by both the Joint Commission and the National Institute for Jewish Hospice.
We are the oldest, largest and only nonprofit hospice in Southern Nevada.
We’ve been serving the community for over 40 years. Not only are we the largest hospice in southern Nevada; the number patients we care for places us in the top 6% of hospices by size in the country.
It’s important to know that we are a nonprofit because there is a real difference between nonprofit and for-profit hospices. For-profit corporations are in business to make money and pay dividends to their stockholders. Nonprofits are formed to fulfill a mission – to care for their community. In our case, we do all we can to make sure that no one in our care ends the journey of life alone, afraid or in pain.
When you choose us, you can be confident that we put our resources into patient care and family support. The generous support of community donors and volunteers combined with the dedicated efforts of the Nathan Adelson Hospice Foundation enable us to care for uninsured and underinsured members of our community as well as provide sought-after programs and services that are not funded by Medicare or private insurance. Nathan Adelson Hospice provides services that go beyond the basic hospice requirements such as administering complementary therapies, making meal deliveries, relieving families in need, providing transportation, and supporting staff education. Together, they make a real difference to patients and families.
Our people make the difference.
Nathan Adelson Hospice is highly focused on recruiting and retaining high-quality team members essential to the accomplishment of our mission and who get up each day wanting to make a difference in the lives of patients and families. We’re known as an Employer of Preference because of how we treat our people. In turn, our employees are some the most highly satisfied and engaged hospice professionals in the nation, as shown by the fact that eight times Nathan Adelson Hospice has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the Best Places to Work in healthcare in the country.
We deliver care to your home or at our inpatient units.
Our inter-disciplinary teams deliver services to private residences, hospitals, assisted living centers, and nursing homes. We also have two inpatient locations in the Las Vegas Valley – the 20 bed Swenson facility and the 18 bed Tenaya facility where patients may receive intensive pain management. Once they are stable, they can be comfortably and safely transported to their home to continue their care.
We are woven into the fabric of the community.
Each year, the Nathan Adelson Hospice Foundation provides millions of dollars to cover unreimbursed hospice and palliative care to uninsured or underinsured. Over 340 Volunteers donate 28,000 hours of service, including the delivery of over 10,000 meals. Our Grief and Bereavement services included over 4,000 visits. We participate in over 200 community workshops, health fairs, and provider education events. And we offer the services of trained interpreters, bilingual staff, translated materials, and Spanish-language support groups.
We offer palliative care to patients and families.
The Elaine Wynn Palliative Care Program improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with advanced progressive illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering. The program features an interdisciplinary approach to care coordination.
We go the extra mile by providing valuable additional services.
In addition to traditional hospice care, NAH has designed special programs and services for patients and their families to ensure their needs are met.
• Grief Support groups are offered and always free of charge for bereaved family members and the community
• Meal Delivery Program delivers meals to home care patients and their caregivers through a partnership with Three-Square, the Southern Nevada Food Bank
• We Honor Veterans Program addresses the unique needs of veterans through respectful inquiry, compassionate listening, and grateful acknowledgment
• Transportation Program ensures patients and families have access to timely transportation to the inpatient unit when needed
• Uncompensated Care Program provides hospice care to uninsured and underinsured patients
• Families in Need Program helps patients and families who need help with everyday necessities such as household supplies, or assistance with utility bills
• Bonnie Schreck Memorial Complementary Therapies Program includes a wide array of offerings to reduce stress, relieve anxiety, and decrease depression helping patients feel more comfortable and relaxed.
• Pets for Paul teams bring pets to patients, which results in lower blood pressure and heart rates.
• Hispanic/Latino Outreach strives to provide the most culturally competent care to Latino patients and their families by offering trained interpreters, bilingual staff and volunteers, materials that are in Spanish and Spanish grief support groups
The more we know, the better we can care.
To ensure we use most current and appropriate practices, Nathan Adelson Hospice provides continuous education to our employees, healthcare providers, and allied health professionals. Our Training Center of Excellence makes use of custom-built presentations, videos, case studies, mentoring, as well as technology and evidence-based tutorials. Also, Nathan Adelson Hospice offers the only Osteopathic Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship in the state of Nevada and one of only eleven in the country offering board certification in the specialized care of people with very serious illnesses.
We recognize that even making simple, practical choices may be daunting and evoke strong emotions. The caring staff of Nathan Adelson Hospice has traveled this path many times with patients and families. Together we have made choices that brought relief, respect, and dignity to the end of life journey.
For answers to your questions, additional information or to discuss a hospice referral, call the Nathan Adelson Hospice admission team at 702.733.0320.
We can be your trusted partner
The philosophy of Nathan Adelson Hospice is to provide support and care so that people with a life-limiting illness may live as fully and comfortably as possible. We do all we can to make sure that no one in our care ends the journey of life alone, afraid or in pain.
