Hospice care to be provided to inmates by Delaware Hospice

Delaware Hospice has partnered with Connections Community Support Programs to provide hospice care to inmates at James T. Vaughn Correctional Facility in Smyrna and Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown.

Delaware Hospice will provide hospice care that focuses on meeting the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of inmates. Care of the inmates with life-limiting illnesses and their families will come from a multidisciplinary team of professionals.

Delaware Hospice has been working with Connections over the past few months to ensure there is no gap with inmate hospice care as the transition between providers takes place.

Through the Eighth Amendment, all inmates receive their constitutional right to healthcare including compassionate end-of-life care, as it is considered cruel and unusual punishment for the state not to provide this service.

New Castle County Clinical Supervisor for Delaware Hospice Scott Edwards, M.Div, MA, LPC, said, “Our Delaware Hospice team of RNs, social workers and chaplains looks forward to expanding our mission of providing the highest-quality hospice services to our community. We will work with Connections to provide regular visits to inmates, as well as 24-hour triage consultation with Vaughn’s and SCI’s medical teams to assure the individualized plan of care for each inmate is met.”

Susan Lloyd, MSN, RN, president and CEO, said, “Delaware Hospice looks forward to cultivating this partnership, and we hope to develop through time a more statewide encompassing, supportive end-of-life care program for all inmates in Delaware.”