New hospice locations have opened up across the country amid program closures.

VITAS Widens Footprint in Texas

Florida-based VITAS Healthcare is opening two new administrative offices in central Texas in response to rising demand for hospice care.

Set to open in late June, the Chemed Corp. (NYSE: CHE) subsidiary’s new offices are located in Kyle and Pflugerville, Texas. The locations will serve as a hub for interdisciplinary staff providing care across northern Austin, Texas. The move expands VITAS’ geographic footprint near the metropolitan area, as the hospice provider has served the southern region since 2022.

The locations will provide new job opportunities for health care professionals and improve access to end-of-life services among a swelling aging population, according to the company.

“Texans have relied on VITAS for more than four decades, and we’re proud to strengthen our presence in Austin to serve even more families,” Joseph Brickner, vice president of operations at VITAS said in a press release. “This second homebase location for our care teams helps ensure that patients, families and healthcare partners in northern communities have seamless access to the specialized support they need at the end of life.”

The new locations expand VITAS’ geographic reach across eight counties in Texas. VITAS has provided care in the Lone Star State for more than 40 years. The hospice provider operates 56 hospice programs in 15 states and has more than 12,000 employees. VITAS’ average daily census rested at 22,336 patients at the close of the first quarter this year.

The company is currently in the process of hiring new registered nurses, hospice aides/CNAs, social workers, patient care secretaries, chaplains and community representatives.

Transitions Hospice’s New Location

Illinois-based Transitions Hospice has opened a new location that expands its patient reach across its home state.

The de novo is located in Rockford, Illinois, and expands Transitions Hospice’s geographic footprint across three nearby cities. The hospice provider now has six locations in the state.

The new location will allow for expanded reach to underserved rural patient populations with limited access to hospice resources, according to Reace Wilson, regional care coordinator at Transitions Hospice.

“Hospice is actually for the living, and that’s one of our mottos at Transitions,” Wilson told local news. “What we take into account is how we can treat the entire person from the time they get diagnosed with a terminal illness, and how we can move that forward into making their end of life, their transition, more comfortable.”

Transitions Hospice has focused on expanding access across the Midwest for several years running. The company provides hospice, palliative care and bereavement in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The provider is a portfolio company of Transitions Group, which serves 38 across Illinois and offers hospice, medical equipment, home health and home-based services.

Texas-based Hospice of Midland opens new Community Center

Texas-based Hospice of Midland will soon unveil a new community center with a goal of providing multipronged support to families and future caregiving generations across its local service region.

The hospice provider will offer bereavement services at the new 3,000 square-foot center, located nearby its headquarters in Baytown, Texas. The Hospice of Midland Community Center will also serve as a location for memorial services, volunteer activities, nonprofit community collaborations and professional and student educational support.

Set to open by mid-May, the community center will allow the nonprofit organization to build stronger regional partnerships and community resources, according to Hospice of the Midland CEO Deborah Goodman.

“We have been working on this project for a couple of years, and we are formally opening and having an open house on Friday, May 16,” Goodman told local news. “It is going to be multifaceted. I envision that the community center is going to be just kind of overflowing with activity. The idea is that there are some organizations in town that don’t have this kind of space. So, to the extent that we can be able to collaborate and support, especially other nonprofit organizations, that’s what we will do.”

The new community center is in part a place for nonprofit organizations across its local community to gather, meet and collaborate on events and activities, according to Goodman.

Hospice of the Midland provides palliative care and hospice across six counties in western Texas.

The hospice last year introduced its community-based palliative program, Pathways, which provides care at no cost to patients and their families. Its additional services include a grief support program, Rays of Hope and youth bereavement services offered at the hospice’s Children’s Grief Recovery Centre.

Hospice Units Close at Taylor Hospital

Pennsylvania-based Taylor Hospital will soon close its hospice and home care units due to financial strains. These programs are anticipated to sunset by this June.

Part of the Crozer Health system, the hospital will lay off roughly 25 employees across its home care and hospice service line, according to the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP). The union represents about 900 employees across the health system.

Taylor Hospital was among the largest in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, prior to its recent closure in April. Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. recently announced intentions to shutter the hospital and Crozer-Chester Medical Center.

“The patient lives at stake and the caregiver jobs lost all lie at Prospect’s feet,” PASNAP said in a statement, according to local news.

Prospect Medical Holdings recently entered bankruptcy proceedings due to “deteriorating financial conditions,” according to a statement from the Delaware County Council. A federal judge has since approved the bankruptcy of both Crozer Health and Taylor Hospital. Patients have been discharged or transferred to the two other hospitals in the region.

The news comes after several months of efforts to improve the hospital’s financial standing. Prospect Medical Holdings is set to sell off its Crozer Health assets to new ownership.

Staffing shortages exacerbated by the pandemic led Crozer Health to temporarily halt inpatient services at its hospice unit in Taylor Hospital in 2022. The move sparked community outrage amid rising demand for end-of-life care in the area.

The health system “tried everything” possible to remain open, according to Peggy Malone, nurse at Crozer Behavioral Health and president of the Crozer-Chester Nurses Association.

“We’ve had so many of our legislators out here to help us save this health system and save these patients,” Malone told local news. “I still, in my heart, don’t believe it’s over. I still, in my heart, believe somebody is going to help us.”