Texas-based senior living provider EdenHill Communities recently expanded to offer hospice services. EdenHospice will operate as a separate nonprofit entity providing care to residents at its Lakeview Boulevard campus in the New Braunfels, Texas area.
The continuing care retirement community (CCRC) is located on a 27-acre campus, in which eligible residents are now able to access in-house hospice services.
The senior living operator launched the new business line to ease care transitions and improve care collaboration, according to Rachel Clark, hospice director of EdenHospice. The company previously outsourced hospice services for residents.
“Communication is more efficient when we’re all attending the same daily nursing meetings and discussing the same patients, rather than relaying those communications to outside hospice providers,” Clark told local news. “The EdenHill residents have truly embraced us as one more option for receiving high-quality care.”
Patients have already begun receiving care through EdenHospice, which is currently awaiting Medicare certification. The EdenHospice team includes a hospice physician, director of nursing, chaplain, social worker, aides and volunteers.
EdenHill Communities, established in 1906, offers a continuum of care that includes independent and assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, caregiving and now hospice services. Today it serves more than 300 residents daily.
Demographics are swelling demand for hospice and other senior services in the Lone Star State. Projections from the U.S. Census Bureau estimate that seniors will comprise more than 20% of the state’s population by 2030, up from 12.9% currently.
Hospice utilization among Medicare decedents in Texas reached 52.1% in 2018, rising above the national average of 50.3% that year, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
Adding hospice adds another layer in the continuum of care that the EdenHill providers, according to Clark. Senior living staff engage with residents across multiple stages of their health trajectories, and thus are able to identify those who might benefit or soon become eligible for hospice, according to EdenHill.
Companies featured in this article:
EdenHill Communities, EdenHospice, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
