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VNA Hospice Care is the most experienced hospice care provider in Texas and serves patients across 16 counties. Our hospice care team focuses on helping our patients live life to its fullest with dignity, care, and respect. We develop a comprehensive care plan uniquely designed to meet each individual person’s culture, values, and beliefs. Our care team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help support our patients and their loved ones every step of the way.
To provide quality of life through comprehensive, interdisciplinary care that addresses one’s physical, spiritual, emotional and mental health, while also caring for the families of those facing serious or life-limiting illness and loss.
The experienced team at VNA Hospice Care is focused on ensuring our patients receive the highest quality care at every stage of their journey.
Learn more about our clinical quality measures.
Once your medical team and family have decided hospice is the right level of care, we will support you through every phase of the process. It’s not uncommon for patients to actually feel better in some ways once they begin hospice.
Patients come to us through a physician referral, or families reach out to us directly. If a physician refers you to our care, we will work directly with the doctor to review your medical records and evaluate your condition. If you reach out to us directly, we can connect with your physician to begin the referral and medical review process.
A VNA Hospice Community Liaison will reach out to you to conduct a benefits review and complete any necessary paperwork. Once the paperwork is complete, a nurse will visit you for a full evaluation which will inform the plan of care.
The patient is admitted to our service and a customized care plan is put into action. The care plan includes an interdisciplinary team and visits designed to meet your unique needs. Patients and families can expect regular updates from their dedicated RN Case Manager throughout the hospice journey.
Our care teams are comprised of trained professionals whose main goals are to ensure we are caring for the whole patient and their loved ones. They proactively communicate with each patient’s doctor(s) and approved family members, ensuring the care plans are followed and that patient status is communicated clearly and consistently.
The Hospice Physician is an invaluable member of the interdisciplinary hospice team. Physicians provide the medical expertise to manage care at the end of life.
*In addition to the VNA Hospice Physician, the patient is able to choose any attending physician to oversee their care if desired.
Hospice staff prepare, train, guide and support the caregiver(s) throughout the hospice experience to keep the patient as comfortable as possible. The staff will help set up a place in the home where it will be easiest to provide care.
Registered Nurses (RNs) are the patient’s main medical caregiver(s) and report ongoing health conditions directly to the doctor. The patient’s dedicated RN also serves as the Care Coordinator and is responsible for overseeing the patient’s overall plan of care. VNA RNs are trained in the art of symptom management and provide compassionate, hands-on care as well as education to caregivers on how to provide care to their loved one at home.
A medical social worker will be your family’s connection to helping you access any needed community resources and offer counseling and emotional support during the process.
Certified Hospice Aides may help with bathing, grooming or other personal care services. Their role is to help provide support to the patient’s family and caregiver(s).
Spiritual counselors are available to provide comfort and support. VNA Hospice Care is able to provide spiritual counseling for all faiths and creeds. If requested, the VNA Chaplain can work directly with the patient’s clergy to provide additional support.
After completing the VNA Hospice Training Program, VNA volunteers offer compassionate support and companionship for patients and their families. Volunteers can serve in multiple roles including: providing caregiver respite, reading and/or listening to music with the patient, documenting patient stories and memories, running light errands and providing emotional support.
These hospice specialists often help patients improve or recover basic life skills they may have lost over time, such as walking, dressing, eating or speaking.
If you are discussing hospice care for a loved one and have questions or would like to have more information about VNA Hospice Care, please contact us. There is a chat option, contact form, or you may call or email us via the contact information at the bottom of this page.
Quality time with loved ones is always the ultimate goal of hospice. When continued medical treatment might provide a few more weeks or months of life but could make the patient too ill to benefit from that time, consider the quality of that time to make the best decision for the patient.
Patients can be eligible for hospice after a physician certifies they have a life expectancy that may be six months or less. If patients live beyond the six months, they can continue to receive hospice services as long as they show decline and their doctor continues to document their eligibility.
A doctor can best determine when the time is right to consider hospice, but here are some signs to watch for:
Hospice is provided to patients who have a terminal illness – which is defined as having a prognosis of six months or less if the disease or illness runs its normal course.
MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS TO COVER HOSPICE:
Hospice service can begin as soon as a referral is made by the patient’s doctor. A prospective patient, family member or friend can either request services through a local hospice provider — which then consults with the patient’s physician — or go directly to the patient’s physician for a referral.
Once the referral is made, the hospice provider contacts the patient to review the services they will offer and have the necessary forms signed. Typically, care begins within one or two days of the referral, but in urgent situations service can begin sooner.
Note: If you or a loved one are currently benefiting from treatments intended to cure an illness — you may want to consider Palliative Care.
Now — before it is needed — is the best time to learn about hospice. Even if end-of-life care is hard to discuss, it’s wise for loved ones and family members to talk before there is an emergency. Decisions like this are best made when there is time to carefully consider all options, not when the need is immediate, and emotions are running high. This can greatly reduce stress, emotion and anxiety when the time for hospice is at hand so the patient can enjoy the most quality time possible with friends and family.
Please contact VNA directly at gethelp@vnatexas.org or call 1(800) CALL-VNA, or let your physician know that you request VNA as your hospice provider. You have the right, by law, to choose your hospice caregiver and VNA will provide the quality of care that you know you can trust.
Yes. Your own physician can continue to oversee and direct the care.
VNA Hospice Care involves a range of medical care and emotional support for terminally ill patients and their loved ones.
Our services include:
Your VNA Hospice Care Team will order all the appropriate equipment, medical supplies and medications to ensure the patient’s comfort in the home. At some stage this might include a hospital bed, oxygen and other equipment.
Hospice is covered for those with Medicare, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage programs. VNA also accepts many commercial insurance plans, as most plans have a hospice benefit for end-of-life care, including:
Aetna
Baylor Scott & White Healthcare
BlueCross BlueShield of Texas
Humana Managed Care
Medicaid
Medicare
United Healthcare
All Medicare Managed Care plans (must be verified)
All Medicaid Managed Care plans (must be verified)
Both hospice and palliative care provide symptom management and comfort for serious and life-threatening illnesses. The most important difference is that palliative care allows a patient to maintain their current curative treatments and physician visits while also receiving in-home support. In hospice, one can still maintain the physician of choice to oversee care, but when one elects the hospice benefit, they are choosing to forgo curative treatments for comfort measures and the focus shifts from quantity of life to quality of life.
Selecting the right care at the right time is an important decision.
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) provides this helpful guide.
Every hospice agency is required to provide the same levels of care. This includes the routine homecare level, which makes up about 97% of all hospice care and can be provided wherever the patient calls home (skilled nursing facility, assisted living, congregate setting or in a traditional home). Also included are crisis care (or continuous care), which is provided by a nurse at the bedside 24/7 to acutely manage uncontrolled symptoms, and General Inpatient care (GIP), which is provided in a hospital or skilled nursing facility, and is also for uncontrolled symptoms that cannot be managed in another setting. Once a patient stabilizes, they will return to the routine level of care. Another level of care is respite care, which occurs when a patient is moved from the home setting to a skilled nursing facility to provide up to five days of care to allow for caregiver relief. Many families enjoy this benefit for a short time if they have a planned trip or other family event or just need to take a break from the difficult work of caregiving.
Hospice is a unique form of healthcare that is community based and provided by an interdisciplinary team of doctors, nurse practitioners, RN case managers, chaplains or spiritual support providers, social workers, volunteers and many other therapists including music therapy. The care plan delineates what care a patient needs and will receive, and the family and patient’s input is critical to determine what the best plan will be for each independent patient. The visit frequency is also highly individualized and determined by the care team in conjunction with the patient and family and based on what is needed to best meet the needs and support of each patient.
None of us like to think about dying, much less talk about how we envision the last days of our life. But often life intervenes and our first conversation about end-of-life is with a terminally ill parent, spouse or friend. Here are some tips for family and friends to help their loved one:
Be there. Call and visit your mom, dad, relative or friend as often as possible. If you are unable to visit, stay in touch. Write notes about memories and the love you share.
Be a good listener. Allow your loved one to talk about their terminal illness and impending death at their own pace. Don’t force your own opinions, but be ready to discuss various options for end-of-life care.
Educate yourself about the illness. Information is available through national associations, medical reference books and other readily available sources in your library or on the Internet. If appropriate, talk to the attending physician about the illness and its terminal stages. VNA’s physicians are experts in serious illness care and treatment options.
Be compassionate. Let your loved one express his or her feelings about their illness and condition without criticism. Let them verbalize how they are feeling, even if you may not agree with what they are saying. Tell them they are loved and that you are there for them.
Offer practical help. If possible, straighten up the house or apartment, bring meals, and/or provide transportation – both for practicality and companionship. Show you care.
Recognize your own limitations. If you’re thinking, “Why am I so uncomfortable with this?”, you may be feeling that you can’t cope with the situation. If so, try to understand your reluctance and deal with it honestly. Or maybe you wonder, “What can I do to show love and compassion?” If you can’t visit, then call or write notes. Find other ways to help, perhaps by arranging for in-home assistance. VNA Social Workers are here to provide counseling and resources any time you may need it.
Remember that you, too, will experience worry, fear, even anger. Loved ones and caregivers also experience anxiety, dread and denial upon learning that a family member or dear friend has a terminal illness. These feelings are normal and yet can be overwhelming. If you are the caregiver, you will need to learn to seek and accept help for your own physical and emotional strain. This is an area with which VNA Social Workers and spiritual support counselors can assist.
If a patient’s health improves while receiving hospice services, or if their illness goes into remission, the patient’s doctor may stop hospice services. Any patient has the right to discontinue hospice for any reason, and return to hospice at any time, if eligible. If a patient stops hospice services, the type of Medicare coverage he or she had before choosing a hospice program resumes.
The Hospice Association of America has developed the Hospice Patient’s Bill of Rights, which is generally accepted by all hospices in the United States. As a patient, you or your loved one have a right to be notified in writing of your rights and obligations before hospice services begin. Consistent with state laws, the patient’s family or guardian may exercise the patient’s rights when the patient is unable to do so. Hospice providers have an obligation to protect and promote the rights of their patients, including their right to:
Please contact VNA directly at gethelp@vnatexas.org or call 214-689-0000.
Yes. For those experiencing loss and grief, our team is here to help. Please reach out to our grief support team at griefcare@vnatexas.org.
VNA Hospice Care serves 16 counties in North Texas, including:
Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Henderson, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Rockwall, Tarrant, Van Zandt and Wise.
We also serve parts of Johnson and Navarro counties.
1420 W. Mockingbird Lane
STE 700
Dallas, TX 75247
(214) 689-0000
Referral Fax: (877) 992-4062
Counties Served: Dallas, parts of Tarrant and parts of Johnson
2800 Shoreline Dr.
STE 250
Denton, TX 76210
(940) 349-5900
Referral Fax: (877) 992-4062
Counties Served: Denton, parts of Tarrant, Wise and Cooke
874 Ed Hall Drive
STE 105
Kaufman, TX 75142
(972) 962-7500
Referral Fax: (877) 992-4062
Counties Served: Ellis, Henderson, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro, Rockwall & Van Zandt
7290 Virginia Parkway
STE 2300
McKinney, TX 75071
(972) 562-0140
Referral Fax: (877) 992-4062
Counties Served: Collin, Grayson, Fannin and Hunt
I would like to let you know our experience with VNA was nothing short of amazing and handled with total care. It started with my first contact with Corinn McCollough to Kacy Thomas, her nurse, and Ashley, her tech aid, and finally to Eunice who was with mom as she passed. I can’t thank you all enough for the kindness and care my mom and family was shown during this sad and difficult time.
-Lisa
VNA has been Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP) accredited since 2010. All hospice organizations are required to meet state and federal regulations in order to operate. However, obtaining CHAP accreditation requires meeting higher standards of care and going above and beyond Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines. VNA was recently audited by CHAP (standard for all CHAP-accredited agencies) and was found to have no deficiencies.
The National Institute for Jewish Hospice (NIJH) provides accreditation that testifies to a hospice’s ability to serve Jewish clients in a culturally sensitive way. Accreditation includes training on Jewish culture and religion and is reviewed annually.
VNA is honored to receive Level One Certification for the NHPCO We Honor Veterans program. This designation involved staff education, partnerships with community groups and using a military history checklist with our patients to ensure we can provide the highest level of care for our military veterans. Learn more by visiting: https://www.wehonorveterans.org/
SAGECare is a division of SAGE the country’s oldest and largest non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older adults. SAGECare provides LGBT competency training and consulting on LGBT aging issues to service providers.
VNA is proud to be HIPAA Verified by the Compliancy Group.
VNA is proud to hold the Certified Hospice Professional Operator badge by CHAP.
