Heartland Hospice Serving Santa Clara and Alameda Counties Music Therapist, Shaundra McCarter, discusses the importance and benefits of music therapy and patients' music therapy options during the pandemic.

My mother, Zaine, had to be evacuated from her nursing facility because of the California wildfires. Her Heartland Hospice case manager, Jude, made arrangements to get her moved and set up. He did a phenomenal job and is much appreciated.

I wanted to let you know that Rachel, one of my caregivers, is just as wonderful as she can be. She is very attentive, thorough and thoughtful as to preserving my dignity. Especially since I have never exposed my naked body to anybody except my husband. I am truly grateful and very privileged to have her. She is also here on time and does everything she needs to do in a timely manner. Thank you again for having such good quality staff members.

My name is Carmelita, and I recently enrolled my mother, Mary Rose, at Heartland. I’m calling to let you know my experience in working with Jeongsim and Maya. They have both been extremely caring, kind and knowledgeable. And so far, I’m just very impressed by your organization. Everybody has been very responsive to my needs and my mother’s needs, and I’m very grateful. Thank you.

I live in San Jose, California. I recently was evaluated by Jeongsim of Heartland Hospice of Santa Clara. I wanted to let your office know that we had a very positive experience. She has an excellent way of communicating with me, the patient. She has a way about her to make you feel very comfortable as soon as she walks in the door. She is an excellent caretaker.

Two days later, I also met with a social worker by the name of Maya, another excellent person. I just want your office to know that I very much appreciated their way of talking to me. Their thoroughness, their thoughtfulness and everything about them was great.

This is Maria. I am the daughter of hospice patient Melody. She was cared for by the Heartland Santa Clara team. I wanted to especially commend the following employees: Nanetta, Jude, Maylene, Jennifer, Mia and Ron. The entire team was very caring and very emotionally engaged, and they helped us from admission to the final. You have a very good team in the Santa Clara office.

My aunt Barbara is a Heartland Hospice patient. I want to thank the staff, particularly Maya, Social Worker; Nenita, Nurse; and Magdalina, Nurse. At such a time, it is amazing to have such kind, professional people with a sense of humor for support. They are the best.

My grandmother, Cooc, passed away recently. I previously contacted another hospice agency on the recommendation of the hospital, but the agency had no one who spoke Cantonese or Vietnamese, my grandmother’s language. I voiced my hesitancy to the agency and was told, “Good luck with finding someone who speaks Cantonese or Vietnamese.” Through the hospital, I got in touch with Trung, a Heartland Hospice liaison. Trung had the language skills to be able to communicate with my grandmother. He took care of my grandmother as if she was his own grandmother. What a difference he made. Pamela, the Heartland Hospice nurse, also was wonderful. She took steps to comfort my family and helped them to understand the difficult process of my grandmother’s decline.

I am the sister of Emily, a former patient. I cannot say enough about the services, care and support that were provided to Emily and our family. Pamela (nurse) went over the program telling us what to expect, and family support was provided. Jude (nurse) was a wonderful nurse. He was so concerned with Emily's condition and adjusted his schedule to care for her. All of the nurses were excellent, excellent. I could call at any time, and things were taken care of. Hospice is a wonderful, wonderful program considering the circumstances.