What is hospice care, and where is it provided in West Michigan?
Hospice is comfort-focused care for someone with a life-limiting illness, delivered wherever they live -- home, an AFC home, a home for the aged or a nursing home. CMS lists 14 Medicare-certified hospices with offices in our five counties.
| County | Hospices based there |
|---|---|
| Kent | 11 |
| Ottawa | 2 |
| Allegan | 1 |
| Montcalm | 0 |
| Ionia | 0 |
Who qualifies for hospice under Medicare?
Someone whose doctor and the hospice medical director certify a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness runs its normal course, and who chooses comfort care over curative treatment for that illness.
People can be recertified beyond six months, and they can leave hospice and return to treatment. Medicare's hospice benefit covers the team, comfort medications and equipment; it does not pay room and board in a facility.
How is hospice different from palliative care?
Palliative care is symptom relief at any stage of a serious illness, alongside treatment; hospice is palliative care for the final months, when curative treatment has stopped.
How do you pick a hospice in Grand Rapids or Holland?
Ask about after-hours response times, whether the hospice has an inpatient unit or residence, and whether it already works with your parent's home; then compare family survey results on Care Compare.
Every Medicare-certified hospice based in the five counties.
Which hospices have served West Michigan the longest?
The area's oldest Medicare certifications date to 1985; several non-profit hospices tied to the region's health systems have served for more than three decades.
- Hospice Of Western Michigan (Ada) -- non-profit, Medicare-certified 1985
- Trinity Health At Home - Grand Haven (Grand Haven) -- non-profit, Medicare-certified 1990
- Corewell Health Hospice & Palliative Care - West Michigan (Grand Rapids) -- non-profit, Medicare-certified 1991
- Hospice Of Holland (Holland) -- non-profit, Medicare-certified 1991
- Wings Of Hope Hospice (Allegan) -- non-profit, Medicare-certified 1991
- Faith Hospice At Trillium Woods (Byron Center) -- non-profit, Medicare-certified 1995
- Heartland Hospice (Grand Rapids) (Grand Rapids) -- for-profit, Medicare-certified 1999
Longevity is not quality by itself; ask about after-hours response and staffing.
What does the Medicare hospice benefit include?
It covers the hospice team (doctor, nurses, aides, social worker, chaplain), comfort medications and equipment for the terminal illness, and four levels of care: routine home care, continuous home care during a crisis, inpatient respite, and general inpatient care for symptoms that cannot be managed at home.
Inpatient respite gives a family caregiver up to five days of rest while the patient stays in an approved facility.
