Hospice care in the New Orleans area

What is hospice care?

Hospice is comfort-focused care for someone whose doctor certifies a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness runs its usual course, delivered by a team of nurses, aides, social workers, chaplains and volunteers wherever the person lives.

LDH's roster shows 22 licensed hospices with offices in the six parishes, including Anvoi Hospice, Audubon Hospice of New Orleans, Guardian Angel Hospice, Gulf South Hospice of New Orleans; hospices licensed elsewhere in Louisiana may also serve New Orleans-area ZIP codes.

Who pays for hospice in Louisiana?

Medicare's hospice benefit covers the hospice team, medications and equipment related to the terminal illness and short respite stays; Louisiana Medicaid covers hospice for its enrollees; neither pays room and board.

A nursing home resident on Medicaid can receive hospice in the nursing home.

Can hospice be provided in assisted living?

Yes: hospice can serve residents of any ARCP level, and it is one of the main ways a Level 1, 2 or 3 ARCP, which cannot provide nursing itself, supports a resident at the end of life.

Ask the ARCP which hospices it works with and how it coordinates care.

How do we choose a hospice?

Ask how fast the hospice responds to a call at night, how often nurses and aides visit, whether it provides continuous care during a crisis, and how it handles hurricane evacuations for patients at home.

The roster lists every licensed hospice with an office in the six parishes.

When should a family ask about hospice?

Ask when treatment is no longer helping or wanted, when hospital visits are becoming frequent, or when a doctor says a parent may have months rather than years; many families say they wish they had called sooner.

A hospice admission is not permanent. A patient can leave hospice to resume curative treatment, and can return later.

What does hospice not provide?

Hospice does not provide round-the-clock caregivers in the home except during short periods of crisis care, and Medicare does not pay room and board in an ARCP or nursing home for hospice patients.

Families often combine hospice with private caregivers, LT-PCS for eligible Medicaid enrollees, or a move to a setting with staff on site.

Where is hospice licensed across the New Orleans area?

Here is how LDH's October 2026 roster distributes hospice across the six parishes; agencies have no capacity figure.