Hospice isn’t about giving up hope;
it’s about choosing to live well.
Hospice Care
HopeWest Hospice is here for you when someone you love is suffering with a serious illness and you aren’t sure where to turn for help. Our compassionate doctors, nurses, counselors, chaplains, and volunteers will take care of you and your family when you are ready to enter our hospice program.
Is it time for hospice?
Hospice Care Settings
Ferris Hospice Care Center
Hospice Care Team
Paying for Care
HopeWest Care Guide

Hospice isn’t about giving up hope; it’s about choosing to live well.
Hospice Care
HopeWest Hospice is here for you when someone you love is suffering with a serious illness and you aren’t sure where to turn for help. Our compassionate doctors, nurses, counselors, chaplains, and volunteers will take care of you and your family when you are ready to enter our hospice program.
Is it time for hospice? →
Hospice Care Settings →
The Ferris Hospice Care Center →
Hospice Care Team →
Paying for Care →
HopeWest Care Guide →

Is it time for hospice?
You may know someone who is very sick and needs help, but you just aren’t sure where to turn. It may be time to think about hospice. First, call us. We promise to help in any way we can. With a patient’s permission, HopeWest will work directly with the patient’s physician to determine which type of care is most appropriate.
Hospice eligible patients often experience:
- Increased visits to doctor, hospital, or emergency room
- Difficulties dressing or bathing
- Treatment side effects with little or no health improvement
- Decreased appetite
- Weight loss
- Depression or withdrawal from loved ones
Why Hospice Care?
- Hospice can lower costs and increase care
- Hospice is a Medicare/Medicaid inclusive benefit that provides for more care at little or no cost to the patient who is eligible.
- If the patient is not eligible for hospice care, we can provide guidance, support and help with symptoms through our Palliative Care Program.
- Explore more aspects of hospice care below:
- Reduced Financial Strain
- Coordinated Care
- Medications Covered
- Help for the Whole Family
- For More than Cancer
- We're Here for You 24/7
- Hospice Goes to You
- You'll Learn What To Expect
- It’s Never Too Soon
— Reduced Financial Strain
Patients eligible for the Medicare Hospice Benefit don’t have to worry about juggling multiple medical bills. They can relax, knowing that visits by the HopeWest team are completely covered.
In addition, oxygen, medical equipment, lab tests, outpatient procedures, stays in the HopeWest Hospice Care Center and hospitalizations are covered without a co-pay.
Many private insurance plans offer similar comprehensive coverage for hospice. Instead of paying bills, families can concentrate on spending time with their loved ones. Thanks to the generosity of the community, no one is ever turned away due to an inability to pay.
— Coordinated Care
The HopeWest team – working in partnership with patient and family – provides coordinated care.
If you’ve ever tried to coordinate multiple doctors, multiple prescriptions, multiple appointments – all for a single person – and discovered that no one knows what anyone else is doing, you’ll appreciate our team approach.
Hospice care is a team-centered way of caring for people. The team is composed of specialists in hospice care; they coordinate their activities and include the patient and the family in developing an approach to caring for the patient and meeting the family’s needs.
HopeWest team members include:
• Patient’s physician, HopeWest physician, and HopeWest nurse practitioner
• Nurses and nursing assistants
• Social workers and counselors
• Chaplains
• Trained volunteers
— Medications Covered
No more last-minute trips to the pharmacy!
Medications required to treat symptoms of a serious illness can be very expensive. They are often not covered by Medicare Part D or require a co-pay from other insurance. The Medicare Hospice Benefit covers – 100% with no co-pay – all medications required to keep the patient comfortable.
Our pharmacy plan provides home delivery of medications. Our staff assists with prescription refills, which are sent directly to you.
— Help for the Whole Family
Each HopeWest professional and volunteer has a caring heart and a listening ear.
Families may be thrown into turmoil when they learn there are no more treatments to cure a loved one’s serious illness.
Sometimes it’s hard to talk about what this means with the family. Patients often want to protect their families from feeling sad or frightened – and families don’t want patients to think they have given up hope.
That is why the family is such an important part of the care HopeWest provides. Our social workers and counselors are specially trained and talented in easing communication and providing support.
— For More than Cancer
HopeWest cares for anyone who needs care and who has a disease that – if it runs its normal course – could take his or her life in six months. This means that we care for everyone from babies to grandparents. And we care for people suffering from heart disease, lung disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, kidney disease, cancer – whatever the disease may be.
Hospice doesn’t mean giving up hope. It means turning to specialized care aimed at making everyone – the patient and the family – more comfortable. Research shows that people who receive hospice care, on average, live 29 days longer than those who don’t. Our goal is to make whatever time a person has remaining as comfortable and as meaningful as possible.
— We’re Here for You 24/7
You won’t be alone with this. We’re here for you.
It’s 7:00 p.m. and the doctor’s office is closed. Suddenly your loved one is in pain. Sound familiar?
Things seem more worrisome after the sun goes down. That’s why our staff is ready to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – whether it be a phone call or a visit.
The frequency of visits and the make up of the HopeWest care team are customized to each patient and family. When the patient’s pain and other symptoms are well under control, a check-in visit once a week may be all that’s necessary. Other times, daily visits are required to assure that the needs of the patient and the family are being met.
— Hospice Goes to You
Hospice is a service that goes to the patient – in the patient’s home, a nursing home, assisted living residence, hospital, camper, motel, homeless shelter or the Mike and Kay Ferris Hospice Care Center in Grand Junction.
HopeWest will help provide everything it takes to stay at home – from helping to have grab bars installed in the bathroom to arranging for a hospital bed, wheelchair, walker, medical supplies, and delivery of medications.
In addition, trained volunteers provide companionship, light housecleaning, errand running, meal preparation, transportation to the doctor – and a break for the family caregiver.
— You’ll Learn What To Expect
Knowing what to expect can ease the burden and reduce the anxiety many caregivers feel.
Taking care of a seriously ill loved one can be overwhelming. It’s a job most of us are not trained to do. We don’t know what to expect. We may not know how to do what the patient needs – from giving a bath to giving medication. The HopeWest team provides education and hands-on training to caregivers to boost their confidence and assure that the patient is comfortable.
When death is near, fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all. Our team teaches the family the signs and symptoms of approaching death and what to do about them.
— It’s Never Too Soon
When is it appropriate to call HopeWest? Many have no idea. They may know someone who had hospice care for just a few days, or a week, and they think that is about the right time. Patients can be in hospice for weeks, months – and sometimes years.
The course of many illnesses is impossible to predict. The longer a patient receives hospice care, the better quality of life they will have. The Hospice Benefit requires a prognosis of six months, but only if the illness runs its “usual course.” Every patient is different and often, prognosis has more to do with support and pain relief than anything else.
HopeWest also offers care for those coping with a serious illness, who are not yet ready for hospice care.
Caregivers fare better when HopeWest is involved earlier. We’d be happy to check with the doctor for you. Just call us. Patients live longer with hospice care.
- Reduced Financial Strain
- Coordinated Care
- Medications Covered
- Help for the Whole Family
- For More than Cancer
- We're Here for You 24/7
- Hospice Goes to You
- You'll Learn What To Expect
- It’s Never Too Soon
— Reduced Financial Strain
Patients eligible for the Medicare Hospice Benefit don’t have to worry about juggling multiple medical bills. They can relax, knowing that visits by the HopeWest team are completely covered.
In addition, oxygen, medical equipment, lab tests, outpatient procedures, stays in the HopeWest Hospice Care Center and hospitalizations are covered without a co-pay.
Many private insurance plans offer similar comprehensive coverage for hospice. Instead of paying bills, families can concentrate on spending time with their loved ones. Thanks to the generosity of the community, no one is ever turned away due to an inability to pay.
— Coordinated Care
The HopeWest team – working in partnership with patient and family – provides coordinated care.
If you’ve ever tried to coordinate multiple doctors, multiple prescriptions, multiple appointments – all for a single person – and discovered that no one knows what anyone else is doing, you’ll appreciate our team approach.
Hospice care is a team-centered way of caring for people. The team is composed of specialists in hospice care; they coordinate their activities and include the patient and the family in developing an approach to caring for the patient and meeting the family’s needs.
HopeWest team members include:
• Patient’s physician, HopeWest physician, and HopeWest nurse practitioner
• Nurses and nursing assistants
• Social workers and counselors
• Chaplains
• Trained volunteers
— Medications Covered
No more last-minute trips to the pharmacy!
Medications required to treat symptoms of a serious illness can be very expensive. They are often not covered by Medicare Part D or require a co-pay from other insurance. The Medicare Hospice Benefit covers – 100% with no co-pay – all medications required to keep the patient comfortable.
Our pharmacy plan provides home delivery of medications. Our staff assists with prescription refills, which are sent directly to you.
— Help for the Whole Family
Each HopeWest professional and volunteer has a caring heart and a listening ear.
Families may be thrown into turmoil when they learn there are no more treatments to cure a loved one’s serious illness.
Sometimes it’s hard to talk about what this means with the family. Patients often want to protect their families from feeling sad or frightened – and families don’t want patients to think they have given up hope.
That is why the family is such an important part of the care HopeWest provides. Our social workers and counselors are specially trained and talented in easing communication and providing support.
— For More than Cancer
HopeWest cares for anyone who needs care and who has a disease that – if it runs its normal course – could take his or her life in six months. This means that we care for everyone from babies to grandparents. And we care for people suffering from heart disease, lung disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, kidney disease, cancer – whatever the disease may be.
Hospice doesn’t mean giving up hope. It means turning to specialized care aimed at making everyone – the patient and the family – more comfortable. Research shows that people who receive hospice care, on average, live 29 days longer than those who don’t. Our goal is to make whatever time a person has remaining as comfortable and as meaningful as possible.
— We’re Here for You 24/7
You won’t be alone with this. We’re here for you.
It’s 7:00 p.m. and the doctor’s office is closed. Suddenly your loved one is in pain. Sound familiar?
Things seem more worrisome after the sun goes down. That’s why our staff is ready to respond 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – whether it be a phone call or a visit.
The frequency of visits and the make up of the HopeWest care team are customized to each patient and family. When the patient’s pain and other symptoms are well under control, a check-in visit once a week may be all that’s necessary. Other times, daily visits are required to assure that the needs of the patient and the family are being met.
— Hospice Goes to You
Hospice is a service that goes to the patient – in the patient’s home, a nursing home, assisted living residence, hospital, camper, motel, homeless shelter or the Mike and Kay Ferris Hospice Care Center in Grand Junction.
HopeWest will help provide everything it takes to stay at home – from helping to have grab bars installed in the bathroom to arranging for a hospital bed, wheelchair, walker, medical supplies, and delivery of medications.
In addition, trained volunteers provide companionship, light housecleaning, errand running, meal preparation, transportation to the doctor – and a break for the family caregiver.
— You’ll Learn What To Expect
Knowing what to expect can ease the burden and reduce the anxiety many caregivers feel.
Taking care of a seriously ill loved one can be overwhelming. It’s a job most of us are not trained to do. We don’t know what to expect. We may not know how to do what the patient needs – from giving a bath to giving medication. The HopeWest team provides education and hands-on training to caregivers to boost their confidence and assure that the patient is comfortable.
When death is near, fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all. Our team teaches the family the signs and symptoms of approaching death and what to do about them.
— It’s Never Too Soon
When is it appropriate to call HopeWest? Many have no idea. They may know someone who had hospice care for just a few days, or a week, and they think that is about the right time. Patients can be in hospice for weeks, months – and sometimes years.
The course of many illnesses is impossible to predict. The longer a patient receives hospice care, the better quality of life they will have. The Hospice Benefit requires a prognosis of six months, but only if the illness runs its “usual course.” Every patient is different and often, prognosis has more to do with support and pain relief than anything else.
HopeWest also offers care for those coping with a serious illness, who are not yet ready for hospice care.
Caregivers fare better when HopeWest is involved earlier. We’d be happy to check with the doctor for you. Just call us. Patients live longer with hospice care.
Know you need help, but not ready for hospice care?
Our Palliative Care Program is here to close the gap. Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.
Know you need help, but not ready for hospice care?
Our Palliative Care Program is here to close the gap. Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.
Where can I receive hospice care?
Hospice care is available in a variety of care settings. Each patient has their own wishes and circumstances. HopeWest does our best to accommodate each and every patient and family.

At Home Hospice Care
Learn More
We know most people prefer to be at home. HopeWest stands ready to help patients be comfortable and well-cared for at home.
Some of the ways we can help include:
- Designing a plan with the patient and family in how other professionals and volunteers can be helpful and scheduling those people.
- Making sure the patient has the medical equipment & supplies they need on a regular basis.
- Working with a pharmacy that will deliver routine medications to the home and providing an emergency kit that can be kept in the home for emergent symptom situations.
- Coordinating care with your primary doctor.
- Doctors making house calls.
- Making routine, scheduled visits by a registered nurse assigned to coordinate the patient’s care.
- An RN available by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week who will respond in person when needed to ensure the patient is comfortable.
- Certified nursing assistants who can assist with bathing and personal care of the patient.
- Helping you handle medical bills and working with you to ensure your financial resources are being fully utilized.
- Providing volunteers for social support, transportation, and other needs.
- Offering a non-denominational chaplain to visit at home.

At an Assisted Living Home
Learn More
Hospice care in an assisted living residence is much the same as at home.
The decision to include hospice in the patient’s care in that facility will provide additional resources to the patient and family. A joint plan of care is developed for each patient. Our staff works closely to coordinate care with the facility staff, including nurses, therapists, CNAs, and social workers.

At a Nursing Home
Learn More
Our role is not to take the place of the professional staff at the nursing home. We supplement care, and coordinate care between doctors, the nursing home staff, the patient, family and others.
Our nurses and physicians see that every measure of comfort is provided to the patient and they communicate regularly with the primary physician. Social workers and chaplains support the patient and the family. Hospice certified nursing assistants provide regular, additional personal care to the patient.
We believe that one of the most important team members in the nursing home setting is the hospice volunteer. They are specially trained to work with our patients to provide support and quality of life.

At a Hospital
Learn More
We provide care to patients in the hospital, which can be the most appropriate setting to provide the level of tests, interventions and nursing care needed to keep a patient comfortable. The hospice team visits the patient daily in the hospital and assures continuity of care from hospital to home, assisted living residence or nursing home, while supporting the family.

At the Ferris Hospice Care Center
Learn More
Built in 2008, the Mike and Kay Ferris Hospice Care Center is simply extraordinary. Its warm design brings comfort to all who enter.
Patients receive individualized and specialized short term care in the Care Center when they have symptoms that are difficult to manage at home. The Care Center is designed to meet the needs of hospice patients and their families during times when a more intensive level of care is needed – a level that is difficult to provide in the home.
Our building and the grounds are designed for comfort and caring and have been made possible through the generosity of our friends and neighbors in the community. The Care Center’s popular bistro, Spoons, is available for not only patients, but families and the community. You can enjoy an espresso and gift shopping at Artful Cup located on the campus in the restored 1887 Miller Homestead.
“To all the special people at HopeWest who were in and out of our home offering help in many forms, kindness, and comfort: you all made a very difficult time bearable for me and my family. Thank you all for being the special, caring, and loving people that you are. You make the world a better place.” – Bill L.
Mike & Kay Ferris Hospice Care Center
The first of its kind on the Western Slope, the Mike & Kay Ferris Hospice Care Center provides a comfortable, home-like environment for patients and their families and focuses on intensive medical end-of-life care for patients who can no longer be at home, but would rather not be hospitalized.
Each of the rooms provide a living space for families – where they can spend time together, stay the night and be close to the patient 24/7. Because pets are part of the family, we welcome visits from them.
The Ferris Hospice Care Center and its trained staff provide short-term care in a home-like setting in the most difficult times. Our approach to care includes comprehensive physical, emotional, social, and spiritual support.
The Ferris Hospice Care Center is truly a community endeavor – built by the community for the community. And because of philanthropy, no one will be turned away due to an inability to pay. For questions, please call (970) 241-2212.
The Care Center Campus
The Ferris Hospice Care Center is surrounded by the breathtaking Tanglewood gardens, beautiful pathways lined with memorial bricks, dedicated benches that double as art, sculptures, and a stunning pavilion that is enjoyed by Spoons bistro & bakery patrons and HopeWest event attendees alike.
Click on the photos to tour the Ferris Hospice Care Center Campus.
Your Hospice Care Team
Hospice care requires a team approach. We provide doctors, nurses, counselors, social workers, chaplains, nursing assistants, dietitians and therapists who work with you to design a plan of care that meets your unique needs.
“Our hospice team, the entire team, was the most caring and thoughtful group of people I have ever known. Their care was over the top wonderful. They became like family to all of us.” – Becky W.

Physicians & Nurse Practitioners
Learn More
We have hospice and palliative care certified physicians and nurse practitioners. Our practitioners specialize in managing pain and other symptoms experienced by patients at the end of life. We may be available to serve as the patient’s primary physician.
Nurses at HopeWest
Learn More
Most of our nursing staff have earned advanced certification, which assures expertise in symptom management and hospice care. A registered nurse is assigned as the patient and family’s primary nurse to coordinate care. Regular visits are provided to assess the patient’s condition, to provide teaching to the family and other caregivers, and to work collaboratively with facility staff if the patient lives in a nursing home or assisted living facility.
Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs)
Learn More
Our CNAs are specially trained and certified to provide comfort and personal care to our patients. If the patient lives in a nursing home or assisted living facility, we work side by side with facility staff to ensure patients receive all the personal and comfort care they need.
Social Workers
Learn More
Our social workers are trained in both counseling and identifying practical and financial resources for patients and families. We will answer questions, facilitate family communication and provide support to families in person and by phone.
Chaplains
Learn More
At HopeWest, our spiritual care team is an integral part of a patient’s wellbeing. Our specially trained chaplains provide emotional and spiritual care support no matter a patient’s beliefs. The spiritual care team can help bring patients and families hope and peace during the time of serious illness and at the end of life.
Volunteers
Learn More
Our trained volunteers are individually assigned to patients as requested by the family or care team. Our volunteers provide companionship by listening, reading to a patient or just visiting. Volunteers can be of great support to those spending many hours alone.
Paying for Hospice Care
How Insurance Covers Hospice
Many of our hospice services are covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance companies. When that is not possible – we’re here for you. Our services are available to anyone in our community regardless of ability to pay because of the generosity of our community.
Can I go back to regular Medicare or Medicaid after I elect Hospice?
Yes, you can decide to leave hospice care and return to other benefits in an instant. There are also times where HopeWest may discharge a patient because they no longer meet the prognosis criteria for Medicare or Medicaid, want to pursue curative therapies or pose a safety threat to themselves or staff.
When patients are discharged from hospice or decide to leave (revoke) they are offered a palliative care program to continue to meet their needs.
Forms and Notices from Medicare
Patients will sign a Hospice Election Form when they are admitted to Hospice and sign a Revocation Form when they decide to leave hospice. Patients will periodically receive a Medicare Summary Notice (see example below) following hospice services.
People find the Medicare Summary Notice form extremely misleading. The notice from Medicare appears to reflect the charges and services rendered to the patient and what Medicare paid HopeWest. However, the notice from Medicare only reflects the visits of some of the staff and medications covered by hospice but no other services like the ones listed in the table on the previous page. It appears as though HopeWest was paid thousands of dollars in a month for a few staff visits and a few medications, when often there are many other costs HopeWest covered as part of that period of time and those costs are not reflected on the Medicare notice.
Please call (866) 310-8900 if you have questions or need further clarification.
Example of Medicare Summary Notice