Hospice in North County, rated

Hospice comes to you, so the first question is who serves your town. These are the 56 Medicare-certified hospices based in San Diego County that list North County ZIP codes with Medicare, best-rated by families first. Pick your town to narrow it, and tap a name for its Medicare Care Compare page.

Town all of North CountyCardiffDel MarSolana BeachEncinitasCarlsbadOceansideVistaSan MarcosEscondidoRancho Santa FeCarmel ValleyRancho BernardoRancho PeñasquitosPowayFallbrookValley CenterBonsall 56 hospices

Family rating is Medicare's star summary of the CAHPS Hospice Survey, answered by family caregivers after a loved one was in hospice (10/01/2023-09/30/2025); small hospices often have too few surveys for stars. Would definitely recommend is the share of those families who said yes, definitely. Care Index is CMS's Hospice Care Index, ten checks from Medicare claims such as nurse visits near the end of life and gaps between visits; higher is better. Patients a day is the average daily census. From CMS Care Compare's provider data, rebuilt every morning.

Medicare's file also lists 160 hospices based outside San Diego County as serving North County ZIPs, 84 of them in Los Angeles County. This page keeps to the ones based here. Whoever you call, ask where their nearest office is and how fast a nurse can be at the house at 2am.

• Who qualifies: you have Part A, the hospice doctor and your regular doctor certify a terminal illness with a life expectancy of 6 months or less, you choose comfort care instead of treatment to cure the illness, and you sign a statement choosing hospice.
• What it costs: nothing for hospice care from a Medicare-approved hospice. Up to $5 per prescription for pain and symptom drugs, and maybe 5% of the Medicare-approved amount for inpatient respite care, a short stay that gives the family caregiver a rest.
• What it doesn't cover: room and board, at home or in a nursing home, and treatment meant to cure the illness.
• You can switch: you can change hospices once in each benefit period (two 90-day periods, then any number of 60-day periods), and your regular doctor can stay on as the attending doctor.

Source: Medicare.gov, hospice care, checked October 13, 2026.

• How fast can a nurse come at night or on a weekend, and from which office?
• How often will the nurse and the aide visit, and who do we call first?
• Do you offer respite care, and where is your inpatient unit?
• Can our own doctor stay involved?
• Do you serve assisted living and nursing homes, if that's where they live?

Someone at the door offering free care or gifts for a Medicare number and a signature is a known scam: Medicare scams to watch for.

Hospice handles the care. Families still have the pharmacy runs, the groceries, the calls, the paperwork and the people flying in. PJ can take those off your plate so you can be in the room, starting at $25 a stop. Text PJ.

More: home health, rated · nursing homes, rated · the care ladder · medical equipment exchange. No hospice pays to be on this page, and SideGuy takes nothing from any hospice.

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This page is built every morning from public data by SideGuy, run by PJ, a local in Solana Beach. If something looks off, or you want a hand with your plans, text PJ at 858-461-8054. A real person answers.

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