Admission to Hart Comfort House is based on need.
Admission is not determined by age, creed, ethnic background, religion or sexual orientation.

Priority is given to those who can no longer be cared for at home.

All potential applicants are reviewed by the Executive Director and the consulting physician. We welcome referrals are from hospitals, physicians, social workers, family members, home care hospice, and volunteers. (Private physician coverage can be maintained for a resident, if so desired.)

A person need not be an Allegany County resident; prospective Hart Comfort House residents from neighboring counties will be considered.

Free around-the-clock care is provided at Hart Comfort House by staff and volunteers. We provide meals and do laundry and offer companionship, emotional, social, and spiritual support.

Comfort care ensures that pain management and – when possible – symptom control is provided in an atmosphere filled with love, during the resident’s last stage of life.

• Our General Admission Criteria:
  Diagnosis of terminal illness. (Comfort care does not cure or change the course of a terminal illness.)
  Prognosis of three months or less. Assessment of need for comfort care is continuous.
  Goal: We will provide comfort care, symptom control, and pain management for our residents and be a source of respite and comfort for their families.
• What to Expect:
  Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order is in place; no life-sustaining measures will be implememted, i.e. no CPR.
  No IV hydration or nutrition will be started or maintained. No feeding tubes, will be placed and no intramuscular or subcutaneous injections will be given by
  Hart Comfort House staff.
  No extraordinary care needs can be met: residents must be safely and comfortably cared for by staff and volunteers.
  No financial requirements. Hart House does not receive any reimbursement from insurance companies for residents’ care and does not bill for services.
  Arrangements for after death must be completed before admittance to the Hart Comfort House.

It is important to understand that Hart Comfort House is staffed primarily by volunteers, and that we provide the kind of care you would give a loved one in your own home.

Resident care at Hart Comfort House is overseen by a medical doctor. This doctor is readily available by phone if necessary for the staff to discuss a resident’s
condition or to suggest any medication or treatment changes.

Unfortunately, Hart Comfort house cannot accept every person referred. Each case is evaluated carefully, and we strive to help those most in need at the time of referral, always knowing that we can only care for two residents at a time. Complexity of nursing care may also prevent us from being able to help.