Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County has unveiled an inpatient hospice house located on the campus of Upper Valley Medical Center in the city of Troy in its home state. The new 31,180-square-foot facility is expected to begin accepting patients in August.
The organization, a member of Ohio’s Hospice, financed the facility through a $12 million capital campaign. Ohio’s Hospice is a statewide alliance of nonprofit providers established in 2013 that collaborate on back office functions and expenses and leverage their collective size in negotiations with vendors, payers and referral sources. The collaborative began with three hospice members and has since swelled to include 11 organizations.
“Our world-class Hospice House will provide a home-like environment for patients at end of life, as well as house the administrative offices to support the entire interdisciplinary care team,” said Carey Short, executive director of Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County. “Our new facility also has training rooms for staff and volunteers in addition to community education rooms.”
The new facility in Troy is designed to care for patients whose symptoms cannot be managed in the home, as well as for staff training and public outreach.
The structure includes 12 patient rooms, each with an outdoor space, including a patio. The hospice house also features an interfaith chapel, an area for children and teens, areas for family members to gather and a spa room.
Technology used in the facility includes ultrasound equipment, ultraviolet cleaning, medication dispensing equipment and a call system. Patients and families will have access to on-demand room service for meals prepared in the facility’s kitchen.
Also on the premises is the organization’s Pathways of Home Community Bereavement Center. Pathways of Hope offers support groups to anyone in the community coping with loss. The bereavement program offers spring and fall memorial services, monthly grief workshops, an adult grief group, a grief camp for kids, and school group and individual bereavement services.
The hospice also maintains partnerships with local community health agencies, providing training for pre-school administrators and staff on grief and loss among children, as well as grief education training, workshops and individual bereavement counseling for extended care facilities, local businesses, schools and faith communities.
The new Hospice House augment’s the organizations previous inpatient capabilities, which included a seven-bed unit established in 2014.
Demographic tailwinds are strong in Ohio. The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission has projected that central Ohio’s 65-or-older population would double by 2050. Currently more than 17% of the state’s population are older than 65, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Ohio had the sixth highest rate of hospice utilization among Medicare decedents during 2018 at 56.7%, the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization reported. The national average that year was slightly higher than 50%.
“As more Ohioans turn 65 every day, an increasing number of people are facing the end of life, while managing more than one complex illness,” Short said. “As we considered the future of the community and its needs, we realized that a plan for facility growth and a free-standing Hospice House would be needed.”
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