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Live Better with Buena Vida Hospice

Compassion, Integrity, Excellence

Care providers dedicated to your comfort

Buena Vida Hospice is a hospice and palliative care company profoundly advancing the well-being and honoring the dignity of those we serve. By educating our community and discrediting the taboo or stigma surrounding hospice, we hope to make the world a better place one family at a time.

Our company culture is rooted in three core values – compassion, integrity, and excellence. We are dedicated to leading the transformation of health care delivery by continuously and measurably improving the quality of person-centered, physician-driven, team-based care.

Dr. Francisco Daniel Medrano MD

Medical Director

Dr. Medrano was born in Mexico City and grew up in Houston. His first language is Spanish and he frequented his hometown during summer vacations as a child. He attended the DeBakey High School for Health Professions then matriculated at Rice University for his undergraduate studies. He attended Temple School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA, and completed his combined Internal Medicine and Pediatric residency at the University of Texas at Medical Branch at Galveston.

Dr. Medrano spent his first 8 years post-residency as a hospitalist and attended patients in multiple settings including hospitals, long term acute care facilities, nursing homes, and skilled nursing facilities. It is during this time in his career that he was introduced to and gained a strong interest in palliative and end of life care. He has been an active hospice advocate, leader, and medical director since 2007. He considers end-of-life and hospice care a professional and personal interest and is excited to be a part of the Buena Vida family.

Melissa Trevino

Director of Community Relations/Alternate Administrator

Melissa is a pioneer in end-of-life care. She recognizes that while we may not like what is to come at the end of life, we need to be willing to meet it and learn from it. Hospice has been a taboo for too long. She once read that the word “Welcome” confronts us; it asks us to temporarily suspend our usual rush to judgment and to be open to what is showing up at our front door, to receive it in the spirit of hospitality. At the deepest level, this invitation is asking us to cultivate a fearless acceptance.  Her passion is to help people explore their options and embrace the truths of death.
Melissa is responsible for supervising and collaborating with physicians, nurse practitioners, and clinicians of Texas while serving urban and rural communities. She helps provide comprehensive end-of-life care while promoting best practices for the delivery of hospice and palliative care in both urban and rural communities.  As an educator, Melissa has dedicated more than 10 years to providing educational programs about hospice and palliative medicine, including symptom management (physical, psycho-social, emotional, and spiritual) and counseling in the end-of-life setting.