Vitas to open hospice within Baylor Medical Center

Vitas Innovative Hospice Care plans to open an inpatient hospice unit at Baylor Medical Center at Carrollton (Texas) later this year. Vitas has signed a five-year lease with Baylor for the 10,335 square-foot space on the medical center's fourth floor.

The 14-bed hospice unit will occupy a former nursing unit that is being renovated to create a more home-like environment, according to Vitas officials. Plans for the $1.5 million renovation and outfitting, expected to be completed this summer, include private rooms, kitchens, a children's area, dining and sitting areas, a quiet room, and accommodations for family members to stay overnight.

The inpatient hospice unit will be team staffed by physicians, nurses, hospice aides, social workers, chaplains, volunteers and bereavement support staff. It is the only inpatient unit its kind in the Dallas area, though Vitas also operates an inpatient hospice unit in Fort Worth, Texas, at Baylor All Saints Medical Center.

Vitas, headquartered in Miami, operates 51 hospice programs across 18 states and Washington, D.C.

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