The number of hospice facilities seems to be increasing as fast as the feds' scrutiny of hospice inpatient billing. In the past few months, these hospice units have broken ground or opened, according to local news reports: Alexian Brothers Hospice in Elk Grove Village, Ill.; Hospice of Hilo's Pohai Mala-ma Care Center in Hawaii; Hospice of the Wes-tern Reserve's Ames Family Hospice House in Westlake, Ohio; Community Hospice of Tusca-rawas, Stark and Carroll Counties' Community Hospice House in New Philadelphia, Ohio; and Haven Hospice's Homer J. Sr. & Fern O. Custead Hospice Care Center in Orange Park, Fla. While there are more than 6,000 hospices across the country, there are fewer than 300 freestanding hospice inpatient care centers, reports the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union.