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ADMISSIONS

Helpful information on residency at Caring House

A bronze plaque on the wall of Caring House that says "Peace Fountain."

Becoming a Resident

Who is eligible?

We welcome adult community members who are receiving hospice services and are in the last weeks or days of their lives.

When we determine eligibility, we take the person’s medical condition and circumstances, our RCFE license, our experience and safety into account. There must be a person responsible for the resident’s care decisions and financial matters. We cannot admit residents with active infections, IVs, complex wounds or other RCFE-prohibited conditions.

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 Is Caring House the right place for me or my loved one?

Staying at home to receive care at the end of life is not always possible.

 

The choice of location depends on the person’s goals of care, medical condition, needs and circumstances.

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Here are the differences:

  • Hospitals and skilled nursing homes are medical facilities. Caring House is a non-medical residential home.

  • Skilled nursing homes and most assisted living facilities (large or small) focus on long-term residents (two or more years). Caring House focuses on persons in the last weeks and days of their lives.

 

Those who come to live at Caring House have, alongside their doctors and loved ones, set goals of care focused on peace and comfort and quality of life rather than on a cure or aggressive treatments.

  • At Caring House, our focus and mission is end-of-life care for men and women in their last weeks or days of life.

  • Other homes provide end-of-life care as a secondary service. Their focus is long-term care.

  • When considering homes for end-of-life care, we suggest that families ask what percentage of a home’s residents have been on hospice in the last year. For Caring House, it’s 100%.

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Blue Skies

What All Residents Receive

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  • Fully-furnished private bedroom

  • Fully-powered residential care bed

  • 24/7 personalized, responsive and attentive care

  • 24/7 coordination with hospice and home care services

  • Support for families

  • Status updates provided to families (on request)

  • Homemade meals and snacks

  • Meals and mealtimes to match resident preferences

  • Mealtime assistance as needed

  • Medication management

  • Toileting and continence assistance and supplies

  • Dressing and bathing assistance

  • Hair grooming and cleaning

  • Transferring and escort at the house

  • Reminder and wake-up service (on request)

  • Listening and comforting

  • Hand, back, leg and foot massages, as appropriate

  • Housekeeping

  • Linens, bath towels, toiletries

  • Laundering of personal clothing

  • In-room widescreen TV with DirecTV and music

  • WiFi and high-speed internet

  • Use of private outside gardens and patio

  • Help with writing resident’s life story (on request)

  • And more!

Is Caring House religious-affiliated?

No. We welcome and honor people from all cultures, spiritual backgrounds and traditions. We welcome residents without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, religious beliefs, immigration status, sexual orientation, age or gender as long as they meet the admission criteria.

What does the admission process involve?

The admission process involves collaboration between the potential resident and/or their family or friends, the Caring House admissions team, and the potential resident’s medical/hospice team.

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We encourage residents and/or their family or friends to visit Caring House prior to admission. We also use email and DocuSign to expedite things.

We want to be sure that we can safely care for the potential resident and meet their care needs. If a potential resident is eligible (see “Who is eligible?” above) and the necessary information is gathered and provided promptly, we can sometimes admit within 24 hours.

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We also use an admissions pool approach for eligible potential residents (not “first-come, first-served”). When a bedroom becomes available, if the physical care requirements of the potential residents in the pool are equal, our team first offers the bedroom to the person who then has the greatest overall need.

Once we offer a bedroom to a resident, the resident and/or family then completes the family packet of documents, and the first payment is due the day of admission.

​Can I receive hospice care while at Caring House?

Yes. We welcome residents who are receiving hospice care from Medicare-certified hospice services. 100% of our residents have received hospice care during their stay. Hospice care teams offer medical care and pain and symptom management, as well as spiritual support, counseling and education. Hospice team members will visit those residents and provide vital support to them and their loved ones, in collaboration with our staff.

 

We’ve created a directory of Medicare-certified hospices that serve patients in or near the South Bay area. We’ve noted whether they have already provided hospice care for one or more residents at Caring House. Before helping residents, a hospice enters into a care coordination agreement with Caring House. Caring House itself is not a hospice service.

Which hospital/hospice group do you belong to?

None. Caring House is an independent nonprofit organization.

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See our directory of Medicare-certified hospices for information on hospice agencies which have previously served residents at Caring House.

Do you have availability?

Availability of changes frequently. We can often admit a resident on fairly short notice, but it’s best to discuss matters in advance of a possible need.

Please call or email us. 310-796-6625 or contact@yourcaringhouse.org

Do you have a video tour? Can we tour in-person?

We have three videos. With them you can look at Caring House and our neighborhood and learn about the Caring House experience from family members of past residents. View videos.

 

We love giving tours of our home. Please call our admissions team at 310-796-6625 ext. 2 to schedule a visit. All visitors must take additional precautions due to the pandemic. Click here for more details.

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We are located at 2842 El Dorado Street in Torrance, California, south of Torrance Boulevard and east of Maple Avenue, in the City Hall/Madrona neighborhood of Torrance.

Do you accept residents from outside the South Bay?

Yes. We primarily serve residents and families from Los Angeles County and the South Bay area. The South Bay cities include Carson, El Segundo, Gardena, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, San Pedro, Torrance and Wilmington.

 

Residents have come to us from across Southern California and other parts of the state – even as far away as New York – when they have family located near Caring House. We have also cared for unhoused persons.

Do you serve residents with dementia?

We can admit a resident with a secondary diagnosis of dementia, unless they would require one-on-one care or would disrupt the peace of our home. We are unable to admit residents whose primary diagnosis is dementia.

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