Hospice care at home in Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley and Twentynine Palms

Morongo Basin communities and ZIP codes we serve

The Morongo Basin is the high desert north of Joshua Tree National Park, strung along Highway 62. The ZIP codes are the ones the Census Bureau maps to each community, listed from west to east.

Desert addresses get an individual access check that covers road closures, travel time and an alternate response plan when weather restricts access. Barstow and the far desert are on the county page.

How far is Joshua Tree from our office?

By road, Joshua Tree is about 77 miles from our office on North D Street in San Bernardino. The road runs east on the 10 through the San Gorgonio Pass, then north on Highway 62 up through Morongo Valley. Morongo Valley is about 62 miles away, Yucca Valley 71, Landers 84 and Twentynine Palms 92.

Without traffic that is roughly 1 hour 15 minutes to almost 2 hours. Wind in the pass and on the grade, and traffic on the 10, can make it longer.

How to start hospice care in the Morongo Basin

The first call can come from the person who is ill, a family member or neighbor, or a case manager at Hi-Desert Medical Center. Call (877) 258-7129 at any hour; the hospice nurse who answers sets up an evaluation visit, and we ask the doctor for the order. Read how to start hospice.

Before admission we go over the plan for your home, in town or down a dirt road. It covers how often the nurse and the hospice aide are scheduled, how long a night or weekend visit could take to reach you, and when the bed, oxygen and comfort medicines would arrive. When an address is too remote to reach reliably, we tell you so before you plan on us.

For a new referral, our standard is a response within two hours, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The plan of care also says what to do until a nurse gets there: which medicines are already in the house, who to call, and when 911 is the right call. Read about the comfort kit.

Older residents in the Morongo Basin

In the Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020 to 2024, 4,557 Yucca Valley residents were 65 or older, 20.9% of the town, and so were 19.8% of Joshua Tree residents and 26.2% in Homestead Valley, which includes Landers. Twentynine Palms is younger, at 7.7%. Across the six ZIP codes in the table, about 11,000 people were 65 or older, 15.7% of residents, against 12.6% for San Bernardino County as a whole.

Hospice comes the same way to a house in town, a homestead cabin, a mobile home or a small six-bed board-and-care home. On a homestead or in town, the person or their representative makes the choice of hospice.

Hi-Desert Medical Center, its hospice and nursing facilities

Hi-Desert Medical Center on White Feather Road in Joshua Tree is the only general acute care hospital in the Morongo Basin in the state license file. The company that holds its license, HDMC Holdings, also holds a hospice license in Joshua Tree, listed as Hi-Desert Home Health Services-Hospice. Beta Hospice is not part of the hospital or its hospice.

If someone at the hospital is going home on hospice, you choose the hospice: the hospital's own, ours, or any other that serves your address. If you choose us, we work with the discharge planners so that the first nurse visit, the hospital bed and the medicines are arranged around the day the person goes home. Read in the hospital now.

The state file lists 3 skilled nursing facilities in these ZIP codes, two in Yucca Valley and one in Joshua Tree. We care for residents of those facilities, of RCFEs (residential care facilities for the elderly) and of board-and-care homes, alongside the facility staff. Read where care happens.

Crisis care and inpatient stays

Continuous home care is available in all five counties we serve, the Morongo Basin included. When it is medically necessary during a short symptom crisis, nursing care stays in the home for extended hours so the person does not have to leave.

When symptoms cannot be managed at home, general inpatient care takes place in a hospital or skilled nursing facility under contract with Beta Hospice. Beta does not run a hospice house or an inpatient unit of its own. The team confirms a contracted facility with an available bed, tells you where it is and arranges the handoff and transport before any transfer. Read the levels of care.

Medi-Cal plans in the Morongo Basin

Most people with Medi-Cal in San Bernardino County belong to a managed care plan. The county's Medi-Cal plans are Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) and Molina Healthcare, plus Kaiser Permanente for people who meet Kaiser's rules for joining. Medi-Cal covers hospice, and when you are in a managed care plan, hospice is arranged through that plan.

These are the county's plans. Listing them here does not mean Beta Hospice has a contract with each one. Whether we are contracted with your plan is checked for each patient. Call us at (877) 258-7129 with your plan card and we will tell you where things stand before care starts.

If you have Medicare, the rules are the same in every city. Medicare covers hospice care related to the terminal illness. Under Medicare, most people pay nothing for hospice care itself.

There can be a copay of up to $5 per prescription for symptom medicines and 5% of the Medicare amount for inpatient respite care. Medicare does not pay room and board where you live. Read paying for care and does Medicare cover hospice.

Community resources in the Morongo Basin

These are public services, not part of Beta Hospice. They can help with needs hospice does not cover.

• 211 San Bernardino County. Dial 2-1-1 from any phone in the county for referrals to food, housing, transportation, caregiver and utility help. Open all day, every day.
• Senior Information and Assistance, 1-800-510-2020. The line for the county's Department of Aging and Adult Services, which is the Area Agency on Aging. It connects older adults and caregivers with meals, caregiver support and Medicare counseling (HICAP).
• In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). A county-run Medi-Cal program that can pay for a caregiver's hours at home. IHSS is separate from hospice and the two can be used together.
• Grief support. Beta offers grief support to the family for 13 months after a death, by phone, letter, visit and in groups. For community groups, dial 2-1-1 and ask what meets in the Morongo Basin.

Hospice in Spanish in the Morongo Basin

Fewer families speak Spanish at home here than in the valley cities: about 14% of residents aged 5 and over across the six ZIP codes, and about 22% in Morongo Valley, in the same Census survey. Our team includes Spanish speakers, and you can ask for Spanish when you call. Switch this page to Spanish with the language link at the top, or read about hospice care in Spanish.

Morongo Basin hospice questions