Seasons Hospice Opens New Inpatient Facility

Florida-based Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care has opened a new inpatient center on the second floor of Memorial Hospital Pembroke in Pembroke Pines, Fla. The new facility began operating on April 25.

Though hospice care is predominantly provided in the patient’s residence, some have symptoms or conditions that cannot be addressed in the home setting.

“We provide palliative care within the hospital and occasionally anticipate having some of those patients reside for a time in the inpatient center,” April Dovorany, public relations manager, told Hospice News. “We have good working relationships with other hospices in the area and have arrangements to allow their patients to use our units on occasion when circumstances require. We are excited to be able to offer acute pain and symptom management to the Pembroke patient population.”

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The inpatient center features twelve private rooms, each furnished and newly renovated. The patients’ families have 24-hour access to the facility for visits. Staff members are available who speak languages that commonly appear in the surrounding community, including English, Spanish, and Creole.

The Joint Commission-accredited hospice will provide spiritual care to patients and their families, music therapy, bereavement services and counseling for family members, and a program called Namaste Care, designed to promote serenity, comfort, and relaxation.

“Seasons considered the comfort of both our patients and their families to be of the utmost importance when opening our newest Broward County unit,” said Elizabeth Vives, Executive Director of Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care of Broward. “Our goal was to have the center feel as much like ‘home’ as possible for our patients and their families.”

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Only 1.3 percent of Medicare decedents received care in a hospice inpatient facility during 2017, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. About 0.5 percent received hospice care in an acute care hospital, compared to 41 percent in nursing facilities, and nearly 56 percent in a private residence.

Founded in 1997, Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care provides care in 19 states through 29 Medicare-certified programs and 19 Hospice Inpatient Centers. In 2018, Seasons caregivers served more than 26,000 patients.