Services

Immediate Need

While we welcome any form of modern communication, it is best practice to provide the initial death notification via telephone at 276-776-5950.

When death has occurred at home under hospice care:

Please contact your loved one's hospice provider according to the instructions they have given you. The hospice provider will pronounce time of passing, give basic care such as light bathing and dress your loved one. When an attended death occurs under hospice care, your provider will notify us of your loved one's passing and will typically stay with you until we arrive. Under normal circumstances, the hospice doctor with the organization you have chosen will sign the death certificate.

When death has occurred at home unexpectedly:

Call 911. If Emergency Medical Services determine your loved one passed by natural causes, and their physician agrees to sign the death certificate, their remains may be released to the funeral home without further inquiry.

If the apparent cause of death is unnatural, your loved one was not terminally ill or being treated for a potentially fatal condition, their physician may refuse to sign the death certificate. In such instances the case will be referred to either a local deputized medical examiner or the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

When death has occurred in a facility and your loved one is an organ or tissue donor:

If your loved one is registered as an organ & tissue donor, the facility will contact donor services, who will reach out to you regarding their potential donation. This typically takes place before we are notified of your loved one's passing, and can slightly prolong the time it takes to bring them into our care.

Contact Information for Donor Services:

• Phone: 1 (877)401-2517
• Email: Info@dcids.org

When death has occurred in a facility and your loved one is not an organ or tissue donor:

If your loved one is not an organ & tissue donor, you may still be contacted by donor services. According to the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, all medical facilities participating in the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) are required to notify donor services of deaths prior to releasing your loved one into our care. This is a requirement to maintain the facility's eligibility to receive federal Medicaid and Medicare payments. As a result, we may not receive notification of your loved one's passing until this process has taken place within the facility.