Home Health & Hospice Week

Higher costs, staffing shortages cited as reasons.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission claims that patient access to home health and hospice services is fine, but a spate of recent closures may tell a different story.

For example: Providence Hospice and Home Care of Snohomish County will close its 16-bed inpatient hospice unit in Everett on Feb. 10, eliminating 36 employee positions, reports The Daily Herald newspaper.

Patients will be able to go to facilities in Bellingham or Kirkland for similar services, however, Providence officials say.

The unit has averaged six patients per day over the nearly seven years of operations and lost $2 million in its best year, according to a Providence spokesperson. The healthcare staffing shortage has impacted the facility, too.

Other recent closures include:

In California: Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital is closing its San Benito Home Health Agency in Hollister effective Jan. 31, the hospital says in a release. “This was a difficult decision to make,” Mary Casillas, HHMH Interim CEO, says in the release. “However, with consistently declining volumes, it was a sound business decision.” The closure will affect 16 employees.

In New York: Humana at Home Inc. d/b/a SeniorBridge, is closing its seven New York locations by early March, according to a filing with the state. The closure will affect more than 1,000 employees. Humana announced the closure of its Senior Bridge locations in eight other states in late 2022 (see HHHW, Vol. XXXII, No. 1).

In Michigan: Arbor Hospice, affiliated with Hospice of Michigan, closed its inpatient hospice care facility in Saline last month after losing its space in a senior center, reports mlive.com. The decision was “out of our hands,” Arbor Hospice executive Patrick Miller told the news outlet. The closure marks the first time the hospice has been without an inpatient facility since 1998. Arbor hospice is exploring the idea of decentralized “comfort suites” instead, according to mlive.com.

In Hawaii: A Honolulu agency will shut down this month. “Due to the significant changes and challenges that have impacted the home health industry and a general increase in operational costs, we have made the difficult decision to close Oahu Home Healthcare in January 2023,” CEO Jen Eaton says in a statement on the agency’s website. The Healthcare Association of Hawaii says job vacancies for its members are at around 39 percent, reports Hawaii News Now. Only eight home health agencies now cover the island, HNN says.