Anthem Hospice Care
A hospice in Mesa, Arizona 85203
1840 East University Drive Suite 1a, Mesa, Arizona 85203. (480) 588-5777.
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The short answer
Record last released by CMS on Oct 23, 2026.
- 3 deficiencies cited in the last three years
- 4of 5 family caregiver rating
- 10of 10 CMS’s Hospice Care Index
Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.
What these words mean3
- Star ratings
- CMS rates some kinds of place from 1 to 5 stars, more stars meaning better on CMS’s own measures for that kind: for a nursing home, its health inspections, staffing and quality measures. A rating is CMS’s summary of those measures; it doesn’t promise good care. Source: CMS, Care Compare and the Five-Star Quality Rating System.
- Inspection (survey)
- A visit by state inspectors, often unannounced, who check a place against the rules it must meet. For nursing homes and other places Medicare pays, CMS calls these visits surveys: a standard survey of a nursing home comes at least every 15 months, and a complaint survey whenever a complaint calls for one. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 488.308.
- Deficiency, citation, violation
- What inspectors write up when a place didn’t meet a rule: the rule, what they saw, and when. CMS calls it a deficiency; states may say citation or violation. It is the inspectors’ finding, not a court’s, and the place is usually asked for a plan to correct it. Source: CMS, statement of deficiencies (Form CMS-2567); each state’s licensing agency.
What did inspectors find?
3 deficiencies cited in the last three years
The middle of the 68 hospices serving ZIP code 85203 had 5.
The last inspection on record was on Jul 30, 2025: a recertification inspection by the state.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
CMS, Hospice ZIP Data. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
When those deficiencies happened
3 deficiencies in 1 month of the last 36. Last cited Apr 2024. Most serious: Standard-level. The last 3 years, to Oct 27, 2026.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Nov | Dec | ||||||||||
| 2024 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2025 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 2026 | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct |
Hover or focus a month to read it.
Hearth Record drew this from the dates and levels in the source’s own records.
Each deficiency, as cited
Rule titles as CMS’s inspectors cite them, set in sentence case.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
Apr 24, 2024: recertification inspection by the state3 deficiencies
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Plan Based on All Hazards Risk Assessment (42 CFR 418.113(a)(1)-(2))
The inspectors’ words, 189 words
“Based on interview, review of policy and procedure and review of facility documents, the Department has determined the Administrator failed to ensure that each hazard identified as a high risk in the facility risk assessment was addressed in the facility emergency plan. Failure to address high-risk scenarios can result in the facility being unprepared for emergency events, resulting in injury or death of patients and staff. Findings include: Facility policy titled, “...Emergency Preparedness Policy....” revised 4/28/2022 revealed: “...Centrix will be prepared to address all hazards that may occur weather [sic] caused by humans or natural phenomenon that would require action by home care and emergency service personnel....” A review of the facility all-hazards risk assessment completed on May 23, 2023 revealed: “...Environmental/altered air quality/pollution....3....” Although Environmental/altered air quality/pollution was rated 3 on a scale of 1 to 3 with 3 being the highest rating for dangerousness, a review of the Centrix/Anthem Emergency Preparedness plan indicated no plan for Environmental/altered air quality/pollution. A subsequent interview with Employees #1 and #2 conducted on April 24, 2024 acknowledged that all highly rated hazards should be addressed by the facility emergency preparedness plan.”
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Names and Contact Information (42 CFR 418.113(c)(1))
The inspectors’ words, 250 words
“Based on interview and review of facility records, the Department has determined the Administrator failed to ensure the facility’s emergency preparedness communication plan included the contact information for doctors servicing patients, and for entities providing services under arrangements to the patients and other hospices. Failure to include contact information for physicians, other hospices and entities providing services under arrangement to patients can result in patients losing contact with vital services through their facility. A review of the facility Emergency Preparedness Plan and Communication Plan revealed that the Plans did not include the contact phone numbers for any patient physicians other than the contact phone number for the facility medical director. No other hospice phone numbers were included. The phone numbers for entities providing services under arrangement were missing. A request was made for this information and could not be provided. A subsequent interview was conducted with Employees #1 and #2 on April 24, 2024 who indicated that, although many patients choose to have the medical director as their physician of choice, some patients continue to choose their own physician, but these physician phone numbers have not been included in the emergency preparedness plan. No other hospice phone numbers have been included in the plan; however, Employee #1 and #2 did state that, although there were no phone numbers for entities providing services under arrangement contained within the plans, there may be lists with some of these phone numbers contained within them provided to staff in the event of an emergency.”
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EP Testing Requirements (42 CFR 418.113(d)(2))
The inspectors’ words, 189 words
“Based on interview and review of facility documents, the Department has determined the Administrator failed to ensure that a full-scale exercise or a tabletop exercise were completed at least annually that included documentation of participation of staff with an accompanying analysis. Failure to include an analysis, or an after-action report, can result in staff not engaging with the exercise and learning what they could have done differently or what they could be missing from the tabletop or full-scale exercise scenario, resulting in lack of preparedness in the event of a real emergency situation. Findings include: A review of tabletop exercises completed by Anthem staff on January 25, 2024, May 23, 2023 and April 28, 2022 revealed no after action report or analysis for any of the three exercises. The exercise completed on April 28, 2022 also had no scenario accompanying it. A request was made for after action reports or analyses for these three exercise events but they could not be provided. In a subsequent interview conducted with Employee #1 and #2, it was acknowledged that these after action reports had not been completed and could not be provided.”
All 2 inspections in the last three years
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2025 | Recertification inspection by the state | No deficiencies cited |
| Apr 24, 2024 | Recertification inspection by the state | 3 deficiencies cited |
Is it certified?
- Medicare-certified hospice since Mar 2, 2018.
- Ownership: for-profit.
- No For hospices, home health agencies, hospitals and dialysis facilities, CMS writes deficiencies at two levels. Standard is the usual one; condition-level is the more serious, when a problem is serious enough that the provider doesn’t meet a whole condition of taking part in Medicare. Source: CMS, State Operations Manual. deficiency or CMS’s most serious finding: the place’s failure to meet a rule caused, or was likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment or death to someone in its care. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 489.3. on record in the last three years.
CMS, Hospice General Information. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
Has anything been proven against it?
- CMS doesn’t publish fines or other penalties for hospices, so none are shown.
- 0 deficiencies cited in the last three years came from inspections that included a complaint investigation.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
Who does the caring?
- From Medicare claims (Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 31, 2024): 9.1 nurse care minutes per routine home care day, 10.1% of skilled nursing minutes at weekends and a visit near death for 95.6% of patients who died.
- Where its patients were cared for (Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024): 80% at home, 16% in assisted living, 2% in a nursing facility, 2% in a skilled nursing facility.
CMS, Hospice Provider Data. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
| Measure | This provider |
|---|---|
| Nurse care minutes per routine home care day | 9.1 min |
| Skilled nursing minutes at weekends | 10.1% |
| Visits near death | 95.6% of patients who died |
Who owns it?
- 5 owners or officers are people: Khalid M Shirif (owns 5% or more directly, 100%); Tarik M Shirif (corporate officer, 0%); Robert D Lafler (corporate director, 0%); Joshua Smith (corporate officer); Joshua Smith (managing employee (on the payroll)).
- No private-equity firm among the owners CMS lists.
- No real-estate investment trust among the owners CMS lists.
CMS, Hospice All Owners and Hospice Enrollments. Released Sep 29, 2026. Updated quarterly.
What do families say?
- Family caregivers rate it 4 of 5 in CMS’s survey (Oct 1, 2023 to Sep 30, 2025): 87% rated it 9 or 10 out of 10, and 87% would definitely recommend it.
- CMS’s Hospice Care Index: 10 of 10 (Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 31, 2024).
- 90.91% of patients were assessed on all seven of CMS’s measures at the start of care (Oct 1, 2024 to Sep 30, 2025); 54.7% had visits from a nurse or social worker on at least 2 of their last 3 days (Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 31, 2024).
CMS, CAHPS Hospice Survey and Hospice Provider Data. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
| Measure | Rating |
|---|---|
| Family caregiver survey ratingCMS star rating from its survey of patients’ family caregivers, 1 to 5 | 4 of 5 |
| Hospice Care IndexCMS’s Hospice Care Index, 0 to 10 (higher is better): a point for each of ten measures from Medicare claims on which the hospice meets CMS’s threshold | 10 of 10 |
How does it compare nearby?
- Of the 68 hospices CMS’s data show serving patients in ZIP code 85203, where this hospice’s office is, the middle number of deficiencies cited in the last three years was 5; this one had 3.
CMS, Hospice ZIP Data. Released Aug 26, 2026. Updated quarterly.
CMS, QCOR hospice inspection reports. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated quarterly.
| Place | Deficiencies, 3 years |
|---|---|
| Americare Hospice and Palliative Care | Not given |
| Anthem Hospice Care This hospice | 3 |
| Remedy Hospice Care Inc. | 3 |
| Vital Hc, Inc. | 10 |
| Endeavor Hospice | 12 |
| Casa De La Luz East Valley | Not given |
| Aegis Hospice, Inc. | Not given |
| Hospice at Home of Arizona, LLC | Not given |
| Enhabit Hospice | Not given |
| Holy Cross Hospice | Not given |
| Hospice of America, LLC | Not given |
| Ahc Home Health of Arizona, LLC | 4 |
What the record doesn’t say
- CMS doesn’t publish fines or other penalties for hospices, so none are shown.
- Only complaints that led to a citation appear; complaints that didn’t aren’t published.
- CMS ended its Special Focus Program for hospices with serious problems on Feb 14, 2025, so no hospice is marked as one.
- Hospice quality measures have a gap from October 2025: CMS replaced its patient assessment then, and public results from the new one (HOPE) are expected around November 2027.
Sources
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice General Information (yc9t-dgbk).
Released Aug 26, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice Provider Data (252m-zfp9).
Released Aug 26, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CAHPS Hospice Survey (gxki-hrr8).
Released Aug 26, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, QCOR hospice inspection reports (Hospice Survey Reports - Oct 2021 through Sep 2026.xlsx).
Released Oct 23, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice All Owners (e983965e-1603-4cb8-82b5-c40090e380d1).
Released Sep 29, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice Enrollments (25704213-e833-4b8b-9dbc-58dd17149209).
Released Sep 29, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospice ZIP Data (95rg-2usp).
Released Aug 26, 2026 and checked Oct 27, 2026. Updated quarterly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).
If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: CMS. CMS’s own record is on Care Compare. If Hearth Record copied something wrongly, it will fix it and log the correction publicly, with its date: how corrections work.
This copy of the record was made on Oct 27, 2026.
From the hospice
The public record above comes first. Anything the hospice adds will appear here, below it, and say who wrote it.
Replies
None. Replies aren’t open yet. When they open, the hospice will be able to answer any finding for free, and the reply will show beside that finding, unedited and dated.
Paid listing
None. Paid listings aren’t open yet. When they open, anything paid for will say “Paid by the hospice”, and paying will never change a finding, a rating or the order of results.