Home Health & Hospice Week

NC health system sheds in-home hospice service, conversely.

Hospice inpatient facilities seem to be on hard times in many parts of the country.

In Washington: Eden Health is acquiring nonprofit Community Home Health & Hospice based in Longview, but CHHH’s inpatient hospice will close its doors April 28. Eden didn’t acquire CHHH’s facility in the deal, reports The Daily News outlet in Longview. CHHH, founded in 1977, lost nearly $3.7 million in fiscal year 2022. It established one of the state’s first hospice facilities in 1984, it says. Eden Health contracts with facilities for inpatient care, it says.

In Arkansas: Life Touch Hospice will shut down its John R. Williamson Hospice House in El Dorado and will shift its inpatient care to contracted facilities, it says in a release. The facility opened in 2007 has long been underutilized, according to press reports.

In Iowa: MercyOne North Iowa is closing its inpatient facility in Mason City, according to local press reports. The health system will furnish all inpatient hospice services in its medical center by the end of April, it says. The system cites “the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation costs and labor shortages” as reasons for the facility’s closure.

But in North Carolina: UNC Health Southeastern in Lumberton is doing the opposite. It’s transferring its in-home hospice program to Lower Cape Fear LifeCare on May 1, but will continue to offer inpatient hospice services, the health system says in a release.

The move continues “efforts to more closely align with the health system’s overarching mission and vision, and to ensure more operational efficiency,” UNC Health Southeastern says.

UNC Health Southeastern reported a $74 million loss last year, according to transaction advisory firm VGM health. The health system is also selling a long-term care facility, it says.