About Us

Our Mission at Snowline is to serve our community by supporting patients near end-of-life and guiding loved ones through grief.

Snowline, established in 1979, is a not-for-profit, community-based organization dedicated to serving our community by enhancing the lives of those with chronic, serious illnesses and patients nearing end-of-life.

The care provided to patients and families is carried out by a Snowline Interdisciplinary team of professionals, including physicians, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, medical social workers, spiritual care providers, hospice aides, and volunteers.

Most of Snowline’s dedicated staff has earned the distinction of “Certified in Hospice and Palliative Care,” an advanced level of education.

Hospice benefits are included in Medicare and Medi-Cal and most health insurance plans. The uninsured and palliative care recipients are also served at Snowline through funds from Snowline’s three thrift stores, our recycling and repurpose processing center enterprise, individual donations, fundraisers, and the United Way.

At Snowline, neither patient nor family will ever receive a bill for services.

We serve the western slope of El Dorado County and the Greater Sacramento Region: including Sacramento, Folsom, Roseville, Granite Bay, Fair Oaks, Carmichael, and Rancho Cordova.

Why Choose Snowline:

Snowline makes the hospice and supportive care choice easy

The critical decision to choose quality of life and a support provider is up to the patient, but often a recommendation by a doctor, hospital, or nursing home is influential. The basic principles of Snowline make the hospice and supportive care choice easy.

Since 1979, Snowline has been a mission-driven, community-based not-for-profit, offering patient-centered care with compassion and dignity to all who are clinically appropriate.
Our first promise is to manage the pain and ensure the comfort of our patients.
Snowline's Medical Director, Dr. Jeanine Ellinwood, MD, is board certified in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine and takes an active role in the care of all Snowline patients.
In times of crisis caused by pain or out-of-control symptoms, we promise to provide continuous comfort care until the crisis is resolved.
The legacy of Snowline is volunteerism. Our extensive and active volunteer base continues to grow, commit and add an immeasurable contribution to our patients, their families, and the entire Snowline team.
In partnership with the Veteran's Administration, Snowline has achieved the maximum Level 5 status in the We Honor Veterans initiative, reflecting our commitment to meeting the unique challenges facing veterans and their families.
Snowline offers various grief support programs for children and adults, regardless of whether or not they had a loved one in hospice care.
Snowline is Medicare certified and serves patients wherever they may live.
Snowline offers same-day admission.
Snowline's thrift store and recycling center operations allow us to provide care not always covered by Medicare or insurance, including but not limited to Supportive Care (Palliative Care), Bereavement Services, and Charity Care for the unhoused and those without insurance.

Joint Commission

JOINT COMMISSION ACCREDITATION

As a Joint Commission-accredited hospice, we are the partner of choice throughout the care continuum because of our deep abiding commitment to quality end-of-life care. Snowline is one of the few hospices in El Dorado, Sacramento, and Placer Counties with this distinct and honorable title. An accreditation from Joint Commission shows dedication to the optimum patient experience, commitment to strong interdisciplinary care management, and a robust patient safety initiative.

Founded in 1951, The Joint Commission is dedicated to continuously improving the safety and quality of the nation’s health care through voluntary accreditation. Snowline received the accreditation award after The Joint Commission found that it had demonstrated compliance with The Joint Commission’s national standards for home care organizations.

Joint Commission standards are the basis of an objective evaluation process that can help health care organizations measure, assess, and improve performance. The standards focus on important patient, individual, or resident care and organization functions essential to providing safe, high-quality care. The Joint Commission’s state-of-the-art standards set expectations for organization performance that are reasonable, achievable, and surveyable.

The Joint Commission

One Renaissance Blvd. Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181

customerservice@jointcommission.org

Telephone: 630-792-5800

Standards Development Process

Joint Commission standards are developed with input from health care professionals, providers, subject matter experts, consumers, and government agencies (including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services). They are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus and reviewed by the Board of Commissioners. New standards are added only if they relate to patient safety or quality of care, positively impact health outcomes, meet or surpass laws and regulations, and can be accurately and readily measured. The standards development process includes the following steps:

  • Emerging quality and safety issues suggesting the need for additional or modified requirements are identified through the scientific literature or discussions with the Joint Commission’s standing committees and advisory groups, accredited organizations, professional associations, consumer groups, or others.
  • The Joint Commission prepares draft standards using input from technical advisory panels, focus groups, experts, and other stakeholders.
  • The draft standards are distributed nationally for review and made available for comment on the Standards Field Review page of the Joint Commission website.
  • After any necessary revisions, standards are reviewed and approved by executive leadership.
  • The survey process is enhanced, as needed, to address the new standards requirements, and pilot testing of the survey process is conducted.
  • Surveyors are educated about how to assess compliance with the new standards.
  • The approved standards are published for use by the field.
  • Once a standard is in effect, ongoing feedback is sought for continuous improvement.