Being told it may be time to consider hospice can bring a rush of emotions, along with questions you never expected to be asking. One of them is surprisingly basic:
“How do I choose a hospice?”
Your doctor, hospital or health system may recommend one. You can choose that hospice, of course, but the choice is 100% yours. The tricky part is just figuring out where to start and what to ask when you’ve never had to make this decision before.
Start thinking about what you would want to know if someone came into your home to care for you or someone you love. Who are the people you’ll be seeing? What happens if you need help in the middle of the night? Who makes decisions about your care?
So what should you know about Minnesota Hospice as you make that choice?
We want you to know what makes our care different
Minnesota Hospice is locally owned and operated, and the people caring for you live and work in the same communities you do. We serve families in Dakota, Rice, Scott, and southern Hennepin counties, and are headquartered in Lakeville.
Being local also keeps decisions close to the people receiving our care. Our team knows the communities we serve, and we get to know our patients and their families.
For families, that means familiar faces, people who know your story and a team that’s close by when you need us – from first phone call to every visit that follows.
Hospice is caring for the whole person. Yes, managing pain and other symptoms is part of hospice care. And so is understanding what brings someone comfort, what they’re worried about, and what they want their days to look like.
Sometimes comfort comes from something that is so very personal to them.
One of our patients told us she was craving lefse. So someone from our team made it from scratch and brought it to her. Lefse wasn’t on their care plan. It was simply something that would make her happy, and we could do it.
We get to know the people we care for: what they enjoy, what brings them comfort and what would make their day a little better. And sometimes a care plan means thinking outside the box. Just ask us.
Minnesota Hospice has a 5-star Family Caregiver Survey Rating from Medicare, the highest rating possible.
And those five stars come from the people who know our care firsthand: the families and friends of people who received hospice care from us. Medicare asks them about their experience, including whether they got help when they needed it, how well the hospice team communicated, whether their loved one was treated with respect, and the support they received. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
There are currently only nine 5-star hospices in Minnesota, and Minnesota Hospice is the only one serving our area with a 5-star rating.
We’re incredibly proud of that. Because when families give us five stars after one of the hardest times in their lives, it tells us something much more important than a number. It tells us how our care felt to the people who experienced it.
See Minnesota Hospice’s 5-star rating on Medicare Care Compare
For the second year in a row, Minnesota Hospice has been named a Star Tribune Top Workplace. In 2026, we ranked among the top 10 small employers in Minnesota and were the only hospice-exclusive organization to receive the honor.
Read the announcement about our 2026 Top Workplace recognition.
Why are we telling you about a workplace award on a page about choosing hospice? Because of who decides it.
The award comes from confidential feedback from our own employees. They’re the nurses, aides, social workers, chaplains and others who will come into your home and care for you and your family.
We think how people feel about where they work shows up in how they care for others.
Hospice care is a team effort. Depending on what you or your family need, that may mean a nurse, physician, social worker, chaplain, nursing assistant, music therapist, massage therapist, or someone from our bereavement team.
We also have Nurse Practitioners who can make in-home visits for people with more complex admissions. That gives us another way to bring experienced medical care right to the patient when it’s needed.
Meet the people who may be part of your Minnesota Hospice care team.
Hospice care for a family continues after their loved one dies. Bereavement support is available for at least a year, but at Minnesota Hospice, that means more than an occasional phone call or letter.
We give people opportunities to come together, talk and spend time with others who understand grief firsthand. Our support groups include groups for widowers, caregivers and people grieving the death of someone they love. We also hold our annual Night of Remembrance, where families and our team can gather to remember the people we’ve lost.
Grief can feel very different from one person to the next. Some people want to talk. Some would rather listen. Sometimes it just helps to be in a room with people who understand why today is hard.
Still wondering if Minnesota Hospice is the right choice for you or your family? Ask us!
(952) 898-1022