A NEW HOSPICE PROVIDER OPENS IN LAFAYETTE

Paradigm Health brings its care-at-home approach to Tippecanoe County as demand for end-of-life care grows

By Shelby White

Death comes to everyone, but the care surrounding it doesn’t always. Paradigm Health has spent 12 years trying to change that, sending its nurses, chaplains and social workers directly to the people who need them, in their own homes. Now, those people include families in Lafayette.

The Indianapolis-based hospice and palliative care provider officially opened a Lafayette office this spring with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by Greater Lafayette Commerce. The office, located at 2122 Veterans Memorial Parkway South, serves Lafayette, West Lafayette and Tippecanoe County. It began seeing patients in September 2025.

Paradigm is not the only option in Greater Lafayette. Franciscan Health, Elara Caring, Guardian Angel Hospice and Seasons Hospice all already serve Tippecanoe County. But the company believes its model — care delivered at the bedside, built around the patient’s existing physician — is worth adding to that landscape.

The United States hospice market was valued at more than $31 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach nearly $49 billion by 2030, according to industry analyses, driven by an aging Baby Boomer generation and rising rates of chronic illness. Yet national hospice utilization reached only 49.1% in 2022, according to the National Alliance for Care at Home, meaning roughly half of those who might qualify never access it. More providers, the thinking goes, means more families who find their way to care.

Lafayette presents a counterintuitive market. About 12.9% of Tippecanoe County residents are 65 or older, well below Indiana’s 17.5% and the national average of 18%, according to census data. The county’s median age is 28 years old, compressed by the presence of Purdue University. By the standard measures, it does not rank among Indiana’s most pressing markets for end-of-life care. But Paradigm is making a bet that there are people in Lafayette who need this kind of care.

"You can learn a lot about a place by who chooses to set up shop here. Paradigm Health looked at Greater Lafayette, looked at the people who live here and decided this community was worth investing in. They’re showing up for families on their hardest days, with local nurses and local staff who know our community,” said Mikel Berger, president and chief executive of Greater Lafayette Commerce.

Unlike providers that operate dedicated inpatient facilities, Paradigm does not have its own hospice building. Its nurses, social workers and chaplains travel to patients — at home, in assisted living centers, in nursing facilities — and work in coordination with each patient’s existing physician rather than supplanting that relationship. The approach earned the company a notable credential: it was the first provider in the country to receive accreditation from the Accreditation Commission for Health Care for delivering palliative care through this model.

Founded in 2013 by Jeff Jarecki, Paradigm today cares for more than 300 hospice patients daily, in addition to more than 300 palliative care patients, across multiple Indiana markets. The Lafayette office is part of an accelerating expansion that has also brought new locations to Fort Wayne and Bloomington. In May, Paradigm announced a new investment partnership with Cressey & Company, a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on health care services, to finance its next phase of growth.

“I had the vision for Paradigm Health almost 13 years ago. It’s been quite a journey,” said Jarecki said. “It’s been an amazing journey. We’ve been very fortunate over the years to represent so many people throughout the state of Indiana. We started out geographically in the middle of the state, and we just continue to go. And that’s a tribute to our team over the years.”