Transitional Care Units
Some area "hospitals" provide transitional, or subacute, care units (called TCUs)—usually for patients already in the hospital. The level of care offered in a TCU is less than that provided in an acute unit and equivalent to what is provided in some skilled-care nursing homes. Cost is covered by Medicare, TennCare, and private insurance if the patient meets the admission criteria. A patient can be moved to the unit only under a doctor’s orders. Hospice patients who meet admission criteria can be admitted to a TCU, on doctor’s orders, if care of a dying patient is more than a family can manage.
