Hospice Care in Detroit, MI

Updated September 2026. Written and reviewed by the Lily Hospice clinical team.

Lily Hospice provides hospice care throughout Detroit, Michigan, at home, in senior apartments, assisted living, memory care and nursing facilities, on the east side, the west side and everywhere between. A nurse can usually evaluate the same day you call, Medicare covers care in full for most families, and a real person answers (248) 955-5100 at any hour.

Detroit is a city of neighborhoods, and hospice here has to fit the neighborhood. A brick bungalow in Rosedale Park with three generations under one roof looks nothing like a senior high-rise on Jefferson, a family flat in Southwest, or a colonial off Outer Drive where a widow has lived alone for twenty years. What families across Detroit share is the same wish when a parent, grandparent or spouse becomes seriously ill: stay home, stay among their own people, and stop the cycle of ambulance rides. Hospice is built for exactly that, and Lily’s team comes to wherever home is.

The first week of hospice at home in Detroit

Most Detroit families call us after a hard conversation at Henry Ford Hospital on West Grand Boulevard, at Henry Ford St. John Hospital on Moross Road (the former Ascension St. John), at DMC Detroit Receiving or Harper in the Midtown medical center, or at DMC Sinai-Grace in northwest Detroit, or after the third emergency visit in a month. A Lily nurse comes to the house, often the same day, to listen, examine, and explain plainly what hospice can and cannot do. If it is the right fit and the doctor agrees, admission happens at home. A hospital bed, oxygen or a wheelchair arrives at the door, comfort medications are set up through a pharmacy that delivers, and the family receives one phone number that reaches a nurse day or night.

Over the first week the nurse, an aide, a social worker and, if wanted, a chaplain each visit. The aide helps with bathing and personal care. The social worker handles paperwork, benefits, respite and the questions families are afraid to ask out loud. The nurse manages symptoms and teaches the family what to expect and when to call. What Detroit families most often tell us afterward is that the house got quiet again, in the good way. What happens on the first hospice visit.

Who qualifies for hospice in Detroit

Hospice is for anyone whose doctor believes a serious illness is likely to run its course within about six months if it follows its usual path, and who wants care focused on comfort rather than cure. That includes advanced dementia, heart failure, COPD and other lung disease, cancer, kidney failure, Parkinson’s, ALS, stroke, liver disease and the frailty of advanced age. Two physicians certify eligibility. The patient’s own doctor can stay involved. Nobody has to be bedbound, and nobody has to have given up; many people live longer and more comfortably on hospice than they did before it.

If you are not sure, that is the normal state to be in. Our gentle guide, Is It Time?, the signs it may be time, and a no-obligation nurse visit are all meant for this moment.

What Medicare pays for

For anyone with Medicare Part A, and for most Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and commercial plans, hospice is covered in full: nurse and aide visits, medications related to the illness, equipment and supplies, the social worker and chaplain, short-term respite stays, and bereavement support for the family for a year afterward. Detroit families almost never pay anything out of pocket for hospice services. If your parent has Medicaid only, or no insurance at all, hospice is still possible; the social worker sorts it out before care starts, not after. What Medicare covers in Michigan, and what happens if there is no insurance.

Hospice in Detroit’s senior apartments, assisted living and nursing homes

A great many older Detroiters live in senior apartment buildings and high-rises, from the riverfront towers to the buildings along Woodward, Grand River and Seven Mile, and in assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing facilities across the city. Hospice comes to all of them. In a senior apartment, Lily’s team works the same way it does in a house, with visits scheduled around the building’s routines and equipment delivered to the unit. In assisted living or a nursing home, Lily’s nurses and aides work alongside the facility staff: the facility handles daily living, Lily manages comfort, symptoms, medications, equipment and family support. How hospice works in an assisted living or nursing home.

When the family is spread out

Detroit families are often spread across the region and the country: a daughter in Southfield, a son in Atlanta, a grandchild who moved to Warren and comes by after work. Hospice is built to hold that together. The nurse gives every family member the same honest picture, the social worker helps set a rotation so the house is rarely empty, and the one phone number works from any area code at any hour. If your parent lives alone, hospice can still work; the team builds the plan around visits, neighbors, family schedules and, when needed, additional in-home help. Hospice when your parent lives alone.

Respite for Detroit caregivers

Many Detroit caregivers are spouses in their eighties, or daughters and granddaughters working full shifts and then coming home to a second one. The Medicare hospice benefit includes respite: up to five consecutive days in a contracted facility so the caregiver can rest or recover, with the patient returning home afterward. Lily arranges the bed, the transport and the medications. Respite care, explained.

Why Detroit families choose Lily

Lily Hospice is family-owned, Medicare-certified and ACHC-accredited, and we publish our Medicare Care Compare results, including the measures we are still working on. On Medicare’s measure of presence at the very end, whether a nurse or social worker visited in the last three days of life, Lily’s rate is 71.3%, against 48.3% nationally and 63.3% in Michigan. Our early-live-discharge rate is 3.2% against 7.3% nationally and 9.0% in Michigan, which reflects careful admissions rather than rushed ones. See it all on our quality scores page, and compare every hospice serving Wayne County in the metro Detroit hospice directory.

Detroit is also home to a great many veterans. Lily follows the We Honor Veterans framework, has a Veteran Advisory Committee and a Veteran Rapid Response team, and coordinates with the VA, including the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Midtown. We are family-owned, not veteran-owned. Hospice for a veteran in metro Detroit.

Area resources for Detroit families

The Detroit Area Agency on Aging at Brewery Park, (313) 446-4444, serves older adults in Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Harper Woods and the Grosse Pointes and is the doorway to home-delivered meals, in-home help and the MI Choice Medicaid waiver. St. Patrick Senior Center in Midtown offers meals, rides to medical appointments, in-home services and an adult day program. The city’s recreation centers, including the Northwest Activities Center and Patton Recreation Center, run older-adult programs. Our social workers know these programs and will make the calls with you.

How to reach us from Detroit

Lily Hospice’s office is at 2125 Butterfield Drive, Suite 299, Troy, MI 48084, about 20 miles and roughly half an hour from Midtown by I-75, and a similar drive from the east side by I-94 or the northwest side by the Lodge. You never need to come to us; the team comes to you. Call (248) 955-5100 at any hour and a real person will answer, or send a message. Professionals can refer a patient here.

Also serving Wayne County, Livonia, Canton, Dearborn and Warren. See everywhere we serve.

Common questions from Detroit families

Does Lily Hospice serve all of Detroit?

Yes. Lily serves every Detroit neighborhood and ZIP code, plus Hamtramck, Highland Park, Harper Woods and the Grosse Pointes, and all of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.

How fast can hospice start in Detroit?

A nurse can usually evaluate the same day you call, including evenings and weekends, and care often begins within 24 hours once the physician’s order is in place. How fast hospice can start.

Can my father stay with his own doctor?

Yes. His physician can remain the attending doctor and work with Lily’s hospice medical director. Keeping your own doctor on hospice.

Can hospice come to a senior apartment building?

Yes. Hospice visits happen in the unit like any home visit. Equipment is delivered to the apartment, and the team works around building rules for deliveries and visitors.

What if my mother has Medicaid only, or no insurance?

Michigan Medicaid covers hospice in full, and for families with no coverage the social worker looks at every option before care begins. Cost is not a reason to wait to call.

Does hospice mean stopping all medicine?

No. Medications that add comfort continue. The team reviews every medication with the family and the doctor and stops only what no longer helps.

How long can someone be on hospice?

As long as a doctor confirms it still fits. Medicare covers hospice in renewable benefit periods; there is no six-month cutoff. How long hospice lasts.

Hospice isn’t giving up. It’s showing up. Call (248) 955-5100. A real person answers, 24 hours a day.