Hospice Care in Cleveland, Ohio

Hospice Care in the Cleveland Metro

Cleveland is the largest city in northeastern Ohio and the anchor of the Cleveland-Elyria metropolitan area, centered in Cuyahoga County. The greater Cleveland region encompasses a wide range of communities — inner-ring suburbs like Lakewood, Parma, Euclid, Cleveland Heights, and Shaker Heights; eastern suburbs like Beachwood, Solon, and Chagrin Falls; western suburbs like Westlake and Avon Lake; and communities in adjacent Lorain County, Lake County, Geauga County, and Medina County to the south and west. The greater metro also has strong ties to Summit County (Akron) to the south.

Northeast Ohio has a large and aging population, a strong tradition of community-based care, and one of the most distinguished healthcare concentrations in the United States. Cleveland is home to two world-class academic medical systems — Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals — whose specialty referral pipelines bring patients to Cleveland from across Ohio and the nation, creating well-established pathways for hospice transition at end of life. Ohio is consistently among the top states in the country for hospice utilization, and Greater Cleveland reflects that culture.

BestHospice.com helps Cleveland-area families find partner hospice providers by ZIP code — so you can identify agencies that are actively staffed in your community, whether that is a city neighborhood on the near west side, a suburb in the Chagrin Valley, or a community in Lorain or Lake County.

Cleveland's Major Health Systems and Hospice Transitions

Cleveland Clinic is one of the most recognized hospitals in the United States — consistently ranked among the top two in US News & World Report's national rankings, with exceptional programs in cardiac care, oncology, neurology, and orthopedics. The Cleveland Clinic main campus, located in the University Circle neighborhood, operates alongside a network of regional hospitals: Fairview Hospital (west side Cleveland), Hillcrest Hospital (Mayfield Heights), South Pointe Hospital (Warrensville Heights), Marymount Hospital (Garfield Heights), Lutheran Hospital (near west side), Medina Hospital, and community family health centers across the region. Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Clinic's palliative care program is among the most comprehensive in the country, and its care management teams are experienced at coordinating hospice transitions for patients who have traveled from across Ohio — and beyond — for specialty treatment.

University Hospitals (UH) Cleveland Medical Center is the other major academic health system in the Cleveland area, affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in University Circle. UH Seidman Cancer Center is a major oncology referral center, and UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital provides pediatric specialty care. UH's regional hospital network extends across the metro: UH Ahuja Medical Center (Beachwood), UH Parma Medical Center, UH Lake Medical Center (Willoughby), UH Geauga Medical Center (Chardon), and UH Portage Medical Center (Ravenna). UH's palliative care and social work teams coordinate hospice transitions throughout this network, and the concentration of academic medical expertise in University Circle — Cleveland Clinic, UH, and Case Western — creates one of the most robust hospice referral pipelines in the Midwest.

MetroHealth Medical Center is Cuyahoga County's public safety-net hospital and a Level I trauma center, providing hospital and outpatient care for uninsured and Medicaid patients across the county. MetroHealth's social work and case management teams coordinate hospice referrals for patients from Cleveland's near west and east sides who may face financial or insurance barriers to care.

For families whose loved ones were treated at Cleveland Clinic or University Hospitals for complex oncology, cardiac, or neurological conditions, ask the hospital's care management team to initiate a hospice referral prior to discharge — both systems have mature referral infrastructure and can connect families with hospice agencies across the metro.

Medicare and Ohio Medicaid Coverage in Cleveland

Medicare Part A covers hospice for eligible Cleveland-area patients with a physician-certified prognosis of six months or less. Covered services include nursing visits, comfort medications, medical equipment, home health aide, social work, chaplain services, and bereavement counseling — at little to no out-of-pocket cost to the patient or family. Medicare Advantage plans from Medical Mutual of Ohio, SummaCare, Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare are widely used in the northeast Ohio market; all Medicare Advantage plans must cover hospice at Medicare Part A benefit levels.

Ohio Medicaid covers hospice for qualifying residents. MyCare Ohio coordinates care for dual-eligible individuals (those on both Medicare and Medicaid) through managed care plans including Aetna Better Health of Ohio, Buckeye Health Plan (Centene), CareSource, Molina Healthcare of Ohio, and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio. The plan a patient is enrolled in will affect which hospice providers participate in-network — confirm plan enrollment before selecting an agency.

Ohio's PASSPORT HCBS Waiver provides home- and community-based services for qualifying low-income seniors as an alternative to nursing facility placement. PASSPORT is administered through Area Agencies on Aging — in the Cleveland area, the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging serves Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Medina, and Ashtabula counties. PASSPORT and hospice are distinct benefit programs; ask the hospice provider how transitioning from PASSPORT to hospice would affect service delivery.

Ohio licenses hospice providers through the Ohio Department of Health, Bureau of Survey and Certification. Ohio does not require a Certificate of Need for hospice licensure. Families can review provider survey histories through the Ohio Department of Health website and Medicare's Care Compare tool at medicare.gov. Ohio's OSHIIP (Ohio Senior Health Insurance Information Program), administered by the Ohio Department of Insurance, offers free Medicare counseling statewide — helpful for families navigating Medicare Advantage, Medigap, and hospice benefit questions.

Ohio Advance Directives and the MOLST Form

Ohio uses two primary advance directive documents: the Declaration (Ohio's living will) and the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. The Declaration documents a person's wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment and comfort measures if they become unable to communicate. The Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care designates a trusted agent to make medical decisions on the patient's behalf.

Ohio also uses the MOLST (Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) form as its portable medical order for patients with serious illness or advanced frailty. Unlike a living will — which is an advance directive that must be interpreted by clinicians — the MOLST is a signed physician order that travels with the patient and is immediately actionable. The MOLST is honored by hospice teams, emergency medical services, hospital emergency departments, and nursing facilities across Ohio. It covers resuscitation preferences, hospitalization decisions, and artificial nutrition.

Hospice teams across the Cleveland area can help families complete or update all of these documents at the time of hospice admission or at any point during care. Having a completed MOLST is especially important in Ohio for ensuring that out-of-hospital DNR wishes are honored by emergency responders. If your loved one was treated at Cleveland Clinic or University Hospitals, the hospital's palliative care or social work team may have already helped initiate MOLST documentation — ask the hospice nurse to review and update it at the first visit.

How to Choose a Hospice Provider in Cleveland

• Do they serve your specific ZIP code? Cuyahoga County has excellent hospice coverage, but communities in outer Lake, Geauga, Medina, and Lorain counties may have fewer actively staffed agencies. Confirm the provider serves your neighborhood — not just the broader metro.
• How quickly can they respond? Especially important for hospital discharges from Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, or MetroHealth. Ask whether same-day intake is possible for urgent situations.
• What is their experience with your loved one's diagnosis? Cleveland Clinic and UH Seidman Cancer Center oncology patients often have complex medication and symptom management needs — confirm the agency has experienced oncology nurses. The same applies to advanced cardiac patients from Cleveland Clinic's Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute.
• Are they nonprofit or for-profit? Northeast Ohio has strong nonprofit hospice options. Some families prefer mission-driven agencies; others prioritize specific insurance relationships or response times.
• Are they in-network with your MyCare Ohio plan? If your loved one is dual-eligible, plan enrollment (Aetna Better Health, Buckeye Health Plan, CareSource, Molina, or UnitedHealthcare) affects in-network provider options. Confirm before scheduling intake.
• Do they offer culturally responsive care? Northeast Ohio's large Eastern European and Slavic heritage communities — Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Slovenian, Ukrainian — as well as large Puerto Rican and African American populations in Cleveland's near west and east sides mean that culturally and linguistically responsive care matters. Ask about language capabilities and staff diversity.
• Do they have an inpatient arrangement? Confirm where inpatient care would be provided if symptoms escalate beyond what can be managed at home — and whether that facility is conveniently located for family members.

Full guide: How to choose a hospice provider →

Frequently Asked Questions — Hospice Care in Cleveland

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