How to Get Hospice Started After a Hospital Stay in Scottsdale or Chandler

I’m Maria, and I’ve sat exactly where you’re sitting right now — in a hospital hallway somewhere between the discharge planner’s office and a vending machine, trying to hold it together while a doctor gently says, “You may want to think about next steps.” As a nurse practitioner for 22 years and the daughter who spent eight years keeping my father comfortable at home, I know that moment changes everything. If you’re searching for How to Get Hospice Started After a Hospital Stay, you are not giving up. You are stepping up. Here at Lavender Hospice, we’ve helped hundreds of families across Scottsdale, Chandler, Paradise Valley, and the wider Maricopa County area move through this transition with clarity and dignity — and we want to help yours, too.

You Can Absolutely Request Hospice — Even Right From the Hospital

One of the most common questions we hear is, “Can our family actually request hospice, or does the doctor have to bring it up first?” The answer is yes — family members have every right to ask. You don’t have to wait for a physician to raise it. If your parent or spouse has a life-limiting illness and curative treatment is no longer working or wanted, you can speak directly with the hospital’s discharge planner or social worker and say the words: “We’d like to explore hospice.” That conversation starts the clock on getting your loved one home — and comfortable — faster than most families realize.

Hospitals in the Phoenix metro — from Honor Health Scottsdale to Chandler Regional Medical Center — have discharge planning teams whose entire job is to connect families with the right next step. Don’t be shy about asking them directly about hospice eligibility before your loved one leaves the building.

How to Get Hospice Started After a Hospital Stay: The Steps, Made Simple

The process feels overwhelming when you’re exhausted and grieving. So let’s break it down into something you can actually hold onto.

1. Ask the attending physician for a hospice referral. The doctor needs to certify that your loved one has a prognosis of six months or less if the illness runs its natural course. This is a medical judgment, not a sentence.
2. Contact a hospice provider directly. You don’t have to wait for the hospital to hand you a list. You can call Lavender Hospice at — day or night — and we’ll begin the intake conversation immediately.
3. Complete the hospice election form. This is a simple Medicare document. By signing it, your loved one chooses comfort-focused care and temporarily redirects Medicare benefits toward hospice services. It does not mean losing Medicare for other unrelated conditions.
4. We coordinate the rest. Our team handles medication delivery, equipment, and the first nursing visit — often same day. You focus on being present.

“You don’t have to understand every form or phone call. Your job right now is to be their child, their spouse, their person. Let us carry the logistics.”

— Maria, NP, Lavender Hospice Care Team

What Medicare Covers — So You Can Stop Worrying About the Bill

Medicare Part A covers hospice fully when a physician certifies eligibility — and for most families in Scottsdale, Mesa, Gilbert, and Chandler, that means no surprise bills. Here’s what’s included under the Medicare Hospice Benefit:

You can also visit the official Medicare hospice coverage page to review the benefit in plain language directly from the source. And if you want to check whether your loved one qualifies right now, our free hospice eligibility assessment takes just a few minutes.

“I Feel Like I’m Giving Up” — Let’s Talk About That

I’ve said those exact words myself, standing in my father’s kitchen at 2 a.m. wondering if I was failing him. You’re not giving up. Choosing comfort over continued intervention — when that intervention is causing more suffering than benefit — is one of the most courageous acts of love a family can offer. We wrote more about this in our piece on why choosing hospice is one of the most loving decisions you can make, and I’d encourage you to read it when you have a quiet moment.

Caregiver exhaustion is real and serious. If you’re running on empty — juggling siblings, your own job, your own children — that’s not weakness. That’s the natural limit of being human. Our team supports the whole family, not just the patient. If you’re feeling the weight of it all, our guide on recognizing caregiver burnout and knowing when to seek help was written for people exactly like you.

Why Families in your area Choose Lavender Hospice

We are locally owned and family-run. That matters more than it sounds. When you call us, you’re not reaching a national call center following a script. You’re reaching people in your community — people who will send the same nurse, the same aide, the same familiar face to your parent’s bedside again and again, because trust is built on consistency. Your mom deserves to know the name of the person holding her hand.

We serve families throughout Scottsdale, Chandler, Paradise Valley, Mesa, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Gilbert, and surrounding Maricopa County communities. And we are available 24 hours a day, every day — because end of life doesn’t keep business hours, and neither do we.

You’ve already shown so much strength just by searching for answers. The next step is simply one phone call — and we’ll walk the rest of the road with you, together.