Community Hospice & Palliative Care has served families across northeast and North Central Florida for 47 years. From our Alachua County Office at 3870 NW 83rd Street, our care teams reach families throughout Gainesville, across Alachua County, and into the surrounding counties of the North Central Florida region. We provide hospice and palliative care at home, in assisted living communities, and in nursing facilities, so your loved one stays in familiar surroundings while receiving the full support of an interdisciplinary care team. Someone answers every call, at any hour. Call 866-253-6681 to speak with a care coordinator today.
For most Gainesville families, hospice care happens at home. That might be a private residence in Haile Plantation, an assisted living community along the Newberry Road corridor, or a nursing home room in one of the cities and towns we serve across Alachua County. Our nurses, home health aides, chaplains, and social workers travel to your loved one, so there is no need to move them when they need care most.
The Alachua County Office at 3870 NW 83rd Street coordinates home-based hospice and palliative care throughout Gainesville and the surrounding North Central Florida region. Families whose loved one is currently at UF Health Shands on SW Archer Road, or at HCA Florida North Florida Hospital on West Newberry Road, can call us directly or ask the hospital’s discharge planner to reach out. Our care team will coordinate the transition and arrange hospice care wherever your loved one will be going home to.
Community Hospice does not operate an inpatient Center for Caring in Gainesville or anywhere in Alachua County. Families who need inpatient hospice care for intensive symptom management will find our nearest Centers for Caring in Jacksonville, approximately 64 miles east. We address this in more detail in the Locations section below. For patients who need intensive nursing support but want to remain at home, Continuous Home Care, which delivers higher-level bedside nursing during a medical crisis, can often be arranged without requiring a trip to Jacksonville.
Veterans in Gainesville have an important additional resource. The Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center at 1601 SW Archer Road serves veterans throughout Alachua County and across the broader North Central Florida region. Community Hospice’s care coordinators are experienced in coordinating VA benefits alongside Medicare, so veterans and their families receive the full support they have earned.
Community Hospice operates two types of locations: Hospice Centers for Caring, our inpatient facilities, and offices that coordinate home-based care, community programs, and family services. Here is how that structure applies to Gainesville families.
Community Hospice does not operate an inpatient Center for Caring in Gainesville. The nearest Centers for Caring serve families approximately 64 miles east in Jacksonville, where we have Centers embedded inside several of the city’s major hospital systems. Families needing inpatient hospice care should visit our Jacksonville hospice locations page for details on each Center, including directions and what to expect on arrival.
For Gainesville patients who need intensive symptom management but prefer to remain at home, our care team can evaluate whether Continuous Home Care, a higher level of nursing provided at the bedside, is appropriate for your loved one’s situation. Call 866-253-6681 to speak with a care coordinator about all available options.
For an in-depth look at the office, including directions from major Gainesville landmarks, visit the Alachua County Office page.
The Alachua County Office is our home base for all hospice and palliative care services throughout Gainesville and the surrounding North Central Florida counties. The office coordinates home-based care, community programs, and family services for families across Alachua County and beyond. Wheelchair-accessible entrance and parking are available. Parking details can be confirmed by calling 866-253-6681 before your visit.
The Foundation of Community Hospice & Palliative Care generates philanthropic and community support for patient care services, family needs and community programs.
Hospice care is focused on comfort, dignity, and quality of life for patients living with a life-limiting illness. Community Hospice’s interdisciplinary care team includes physicians, registered nurses, licensed home health aides, medical social workers, chaplains, and bereavement counselors. This team meets regularly to review and adjust each patient’s individualized plan of care, keeping the focus on what matters most: the time your family has together.
Home-based hospice care across Alachua County includes regular nursing visits, around-the-clock phone access to a clinical nurse, and aide services for personal care. For patients who need inpatient support, our Centers for Caring in Jacksonville provide continuous clinical management. Hospice care is appropriate for a wide range of serious illnesses, not only cancer. Heart failure, COPD, dementia, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, and kidney disease are among the conditions Community Hospice’s care teams address every day in Gainesville and across the North Central Florida region.
Medicare Part A covers hospice for eligible patients, meaning most Gainesville families pay little or nothing out of pocket for nursing visits, medications related to the terminal diagnosis, home health aide services, chaplaincy, social work, and bereavement support. Medicaid and most private insurance policies also cover hospice. No one is ever denied services through Community Hospice, regardless of their ability to pay.
Community Hospice is a Level 5 We Honor Veterans partner, the highest designation in the We Honor Veterans program. For veterans in Gainesville served by the Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center at 1601 SW Archer Road, our care coordinators help coordinate VA benefits alongside Medicare so nothing falls through the gap.
Palliative care is specialized care focused on symptom relief and quality of life for patients with a serious illness, at any point in their treatment. A patient receiving cancer treatment at UF Health Shands, or managing heart failure or a neurological condition, can receive palliative care alongside curative care. Palliative care is not the same as hospice: it begins at diagnosis, continues for as long as it helps, and does not require a patient to shift the goals of their care.
When the time comes to transition from curative to comfort-focused care, Community Hospice’s palliative care team can walk alongside that conversation and, when a family is ready, help coordinate the move to hospice care. As with hospice, no one is ever denied palliative care through Community Hospice based on ability to pay.
Grief often begins before a death. Caregivers and family members in Gainesville who are watching a loved one decline frequently experience anticipatory grief, a real and underserved dimension of the end-of-life experience. Community Hospice provides grief counseling and bereavement services during the hospice period and for up to 13 months after the death of a loved one.
Gainesville-area residents do not need to be a current patient’s family member to access grief support resources through Community Hospice. These services are available to the broader community and offered at no cost. If you are carrying the weight of a loss and are not sure where to turn, call 866-253-6681.
Community Hospice serves a 16-county region spanning northeast and North Central Florida. The Alachua County Office is the hub for our North Central Florida service area, reaching families across Alachua County and into Bradford County, Gilchrist County, Levy County, Putnam County, Columbia County, and the surrounding counties of the region.
Within Alachua County, Community Hospice’s care teams serve all nine incorporated cities: Gainesville, Alachua, Archer, Hawthorne, High Springs, La Crosse, Micanopy, Newberry, and Waldo. Families in Gainesville’s neighborhoods and surrounding communities, including Jonesville, Tioga, Fairbanks, Santa Fe, and the growing areas along the Newberry Road and I-75 corridors, are all within our reach.
Community Hospice also reaches families in the unincorporated communities of Alachua County: Cross Creek, Earleton, Evinston, Grove Park, Island Grove, Rochelle, and Windsor. Eastern Alachua County, including Hawthorne, Waldo, Earleton, Island Grove, Rochelle, Windsor, and Grove Park, sits farther from services and infrastructure. Our home-based care teams travel to these communities so that geography is not a barrier to compassionate support.
For families who need access to our inpatient Centers for Caring, Jacksonville is approximately 64 miles to the east. Our Jacksonville page provides details on each Center and what to expect on arrival. As additional city pages come online for the North Central Florida region, we will continue to expand the information available for families in every part of the region we serve.
Founded in 1979, Community Hospice has served families across northeast and North Central Florida for 47 years. For a family making one of the most significant decisions of their lives, that tenure carries real meaning. It means a care model refined over decades of serving thousands of families in this region, and a team whose training runs deep in both clinical care and the human dimensions of end-of-life experience.
In 2025, Community Hospice was named a Hospice Honors Elite program. The recognition as a Hospice Honors Elite program places Community Hospice among the top 2% of hospices nationwide, and we are honored to be the only hospice in the state of Florida to receive this designation, a testament to the exceptional quality and heartfelt care our team delivers each day.
As a nonprofit organization, every dollar Community Hospice generates returns to patient care, staff education, and community services. There are no shareholders to satisfy. The mission that guided the organization’s founders in 1979 is the same mission guiding every care decision today for Gainesville families and families across the North Central Florida region.
Community Hospice holds a Level 5 We Honor Veterans designation, the highest tier of a national program recognizing specialized training in veteran-specific end-of-life care. For the more than 13,900 veterans who call Alachua County home, and for those served by the Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center, this designation means care coordinators who understand the distinct needs, experiences, and benefits available to veterans and their families.
Across northeast and North Central Florida, Community Hospice operates 9 Centers for Caring and maintains offices serving 16 counties. That regional footprint gives Gainesville families access to organizational depth and continuity built over nearly five decades of service in this region.
The Alachua County Office is located at 3870 NW 83rd Street, Gainesville, FL 32606. The office coordinates home-based hospice and palliative care throughout Gainesville, Alachua County, and the surrounding North Central Florida counties. Wheelchair-accessible entrance and parking are available. Call 866-253-6681 for directions or to confirm details before your visit.
Community Hospice does not operate an inpatient Center for Caring in Gainesville. The nearest Centers for Caring are in Jacksonville, approximately 64 miles east.
Yes. Medicare Part A covers hospice for eligible patients, including nursing visits, medications related to the terminal diagnosis, home health aide services, chaplaincy, social work, and bereavement support for up to 13 months after the death of a loved one. Most Gainesville families pay little or nothing out of pocket. Medicaid and most private insurance policies also cover hospice. No one is ever denied services through Community Hospice, regardless of their ability to pay. Call 866-253-6681 to speak with a care coordinator about your family’s specific coverage.
Community Hospice serves all of Alachua County, including the incorporated cities of Gainesville, Alachua, Archer, Hawthorne, High Springs, La Crosse, Micanopy, Newberry, and Waldo, plus unincorporated communities throughout the county. The Alachua County Office also serves Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, Putnam, Columbia, and other North Central Florida counties as part of a 16-county regional service area. Call 866-253-6681 to confirm coverage for a specific address.
Palliative care focuses on comfort and symptom relief for patients with serious illness, at any point in treatment, including alongside curative care. Hospice is a specific form of palliative care that begins when a physician certifies a prognosis of six months or less if the illness runs its normal course, and the patient chooses to focus on comfort rather than curative treatment. Both are available through Community Hospice in Gainesville. Call 866-253-6681 to learn more about which option may be right for your loved one.
Yes. Most hospice care is delivered in the patient’s home, whether that is a private residence, an assisted living facility, or a nursing home room. Community Hospice’s care teams bring nursing visits, home health aide services, chaplaincy, and social work directly to your loved one in Gainesville and across Alachua County. When symptoms require a higher level of care, inpatient support at Community Hospice Centers for Caring in Jacksonville is available, approximately 64 miles from Gainesville.
Yes. Community Hospice is a Level 5 We Honor Veterans partner, the highest designation in the program. Care coordinators are experienced in coordinating VA benefits alongside Medicare. Gainesville-area veterans are served through the North Florida/South Georgia VA system, with the Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center located at 1601 SW Archer Road. Call 866-253-6681 for details on VA-coordinated hospice care.
Yes. The Medicare hospice election can be revoked in writing at any time. Standard Medicare coverage resumes immediately, with no waiting period and no penalty. There is no barrier to re-electing hospice care later. Our care team can help your family through this decision, whatever direction it takes.
Choosing hospice care is one of the most significant decisions a family will make. Community Hospice has been part of this moment for Gainesville families for nearly five decades, and we understand the weight of the call you are about to make.
Call 866-253-6681 to speak with a care coordinator. Our team answers 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
