A World of Compassionate Caring
Universal’s Hospice and Palliative Care Facility is an 18 bed state-of-the-art inpatient facility located in east Fort Worth.
It is the largest free-standing inpatient Hospice facility in North Texas and the center of Palliative Care Education for the metroplex.
The inpatient facility offers all the amenities conducive to the comforts of home for the patient and their families, including:
ā¢ All private rooms
ā¢ Family living areas
ā¢ Great Room for patient and family gatherings
ā¢ Chapel/Meditation Room
ā¢ Children’s play area
ā¢ Beauty Salon/Exercise Room
ā¢ Kitchen, bath, and laundry facilities for families staying with their loved ones
It is our mission and commitment to provide relief from suffering, promote comfort, enhance quality of life, and foster dignified end-of-life care
Hospice Eligibility
The Medicare Hospice Benefit and most insurers require the following eligibility criteria for Hospice care:
- Certification by two doctors, typically the personal physician and the Hospice medical director, as having a life-limiting diagnosis with a life expectancy of six months or less.
- Patients must sign a statement choosing Hospice care using the Medicare Hospice Benefit, rather than curative treatment and standard Medicare covered benefits for their Hospice diagnosis.
- Enrollment in a Medicare Certified Hospice Program
Levels of Care
Hospice Medicare-certified programs are reimbursed on a per Diem based on the patient’s level of care
The levels of care in the Medicare Hospice Benefit include:
- Routine Home Care – basic care by the Hospice program in the patient’s home, adult congregate living facility (ACLF) or long-term care facility (LTCF)/nursing home
- Continuous Home Care – Crisis care in the home/ACLF/LTCF to treat and monitor uncontrolled symptoms related to the terminal diagnosis. These services usually require a skilled nursing need for a minimum of 8 hours, up to 24 hours a day for several days. Reimbursement is hourly, based on the number of actual hours the patient is served during a 24 hour period (midnight to midnight).
- Respite Inpatient Care – respite for the patient’s primary caregiver. The patient is place in an inpatient setting (hospital, nursing home, skilled unit, or Hospice inpatient center) but does no require acute symptom management. This is limited to 5 consecutive days.
- General Inpatient Care – acute management of pain and other symptoms that cannot be manages at home. The patient is admitted to an inpatient setting such as a contract hospital, nursing home, skilled unit, or Hospice inpatient center. The average length of stay for general inpatient care is 5-7 days or the necessary appropriate time to bring the patient’s acute symptoms under control.
Universal’s Hospice and Palliative Care Facility will provide two levels of care
- Respite Inpatient Care
- General Inpatient Care
Our Commitment
We will provide Hospice appropriate crisis intervention to stabilize and control complex, end-of-life symptoms.
Our team of highly skilled Hospice and palliative care specialists will collaborate with health care facilities to arrange alternate placement in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, personal care homes, and homes for patients who require discharge form the inpatient facility.