What is concurrent care? Pediatric hospice support alongside treatment
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When a child is living with a serious or life-limiting illness, families may worry that choosing hospice means stopping treatment. For some children, pediatric concurrent care makes it possible to receive both.
Concurrent care allows eligible children under age 21 to receive pediatric hospice services while continuing treatment for their illness. This benefit is available through Medicaid and applicable CHIP coverage and is recognized in both North Carolina and Virginia.
For families, that means comfort, support and quality-of-life care do not necessarily have to wait until treatment ends.
What is concurrent care?
Concurrent care is a pediatric hospice benefit for eligible children who meet hospice requirements but continue receiving disease-directed or curative treatment.
Depending on a child’s needs and coverage, ongoing treatment may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hospital care or other therapies. At the same time, pediatric hospice can provide services such as:
- Nursing care and symptom management
- Social work support
- Emotional and spiritual care
- Care coordination
- Support for parents, siblings and caregivers
- Grief and bereavement support
The hospice team works alongside the child’s physicians and specialists rather than replacing them.
This collaborative approach reflects Mountain Valley’s commitment to providing skilled, compassionate care while supporting patients and families through the physical, emotional, social and spiritual challenges of serious illness.
How concurrent care helps families
Children with complex illnesses may receive care from many specialists and healthcare organizations. Concurrent care adds another layer of support that can help families manage symptoms, coordinate care and navigate difficult decisions.
It can also help families focus more fully on everyday life — whether that means spending time at home, celebrating milestones or simply enjoying meaningful moments together.
For Mountain Valley, this kind of support is rooted in the belief that every patient and family deserves care that honors their experience and helps make every moment matter.
When should families ask about concurrent care?
Families do not need to wait until treatment has stopped to ask about additional support. If a child has a serious, progressive or life-limiting illness, an early conversation with the child’s physician or pediatric hospice team can help clarify available options.
Helpful questions may include:
- Does my child qualify for pediatric hospice?
- Could concurrent care allow treatment to continue?
- How would hospice work with my child’s specialists?
- What services are available for our child and family?
- What does our insurance or Medicaid plan cover?
Asking about concurrent care does not commit a family to hospice. It gives families information they can use to make decisions that reflect their child’s needs and their own goals.
Pediatric hospice is about supporting life
Pediatric hospice is not about giving up. It is about helping children live as comfortably and fully as possible while supporting the people who love and care for them.
Concurrent care can make that support available alongside ongoing treatment, bringing together symptom management, family support and coordinated care.
Mountain Valley’s Love’s PEAK pediatric program supports children and families facing serious illness through pediatric hospice and palliative care. To learn more about concurrent care or whether your child may be eligible, contact Mountain Valley at (336) 789-2922.
