CLEVELAND, Ohio — In the Hospice of the Western Reserve’s new $25 million Hospice Care & Community Center inpatient facility, every patient seeking end-of-life care will have a view of Lake Erie, and stay in rooms that feel more like home than a hospital.
“To have a facility right on the lake is exceptional,” said William Finn, president and CEO of Hospice of the Western Reserve. “We know the power of the lake. We know how it helps people really put in context all that’s happening to them.”
An official groundbreaking ceremony for the new inpatient facility is scheduled for Wednesday. The care center, expected to open in 2026, will feature 32 private patient rooms, enhanced family spaces, and state-of-the-art medical technology to support end-of-life care.
The 50,000 square foot care center, located in Cleveland’s North Collinwood neighborhood, will be built on lakefront property adjacent to the current Hospice House on East 185th Street, on land that the nonprofit Hospice of the Western Reserve already owns. It will replace the current, aging Hospice House, the nonprofit said.
Hospice caretakers also will enjoy lake views from their break rooms, in addition to an outside patio for staff and a separate staff entrance.
The nonprofit organization’s philanthropic campaign has raised more than $15 million of the new building’s cost. The remainder will come from the board of directors designated funds.
“The fact that we’re investing in this new facility is another level of commitment we’re making to serve our community, to provide the best care possible, to do it in a way that really puts patient first and allows them to drive the decisions around care,” Finn said.
Focus on end-of-life decisions
Hospice of the Western Reserve serves patients who have a prognosis of six months, Finn said. “Our job is to find out, how do we make the most of the time that a patient has?” he said.
That could be anything from reaching out to an estranged child, to finishing a book, Finn said. Hospice caregivers can make these wishes happen.
Most of Hospice of the Western Reserve’s chronically ill patients are cared for in their own homes, assisted living facilities or nursing homes, Finn said.
In addition, the organization provides inpatient care for people who need specialized care to make them more comfortable, he said. Some patients stay at the inpatient hospice facility until death; others are able to return home once their symptoms are controlled and continue hospice care there, he said.
Some patients have short-term stays in hospice facilities to allow family members to take a break from caregiving.
Last year, the hospice nonprofit cared for more than 10,000 patients in its hospice and palliative care programs across 18 northern Ohio counties.
The new 32-bed hospice facility will have the same number of beds as the current facility. Since most patients stay in hospice less than a week, the new building is expected to meet future demand, Finn said.
Hospice of the Western Reserve also has bereavement programs to support grieving families. Services include art, music and pet therapy, support groups and counseling.
Those bereavement programs will be housed in the new facility’s community center, attached to the hospice care center but with a separate entrance. Educational outreach and celebrations for patients and their families also will take place in the hospice community center.
The community center’s educational outreach programs will encourage community members to think about end-of-life decisions, such as advanced healthcare directives and final wishes.
Studies have suggested that people receiving hospice care often live longer than those who don’t, because of the care and services given to patients and their families, Finn said.
The Hospice of the Western Reserve competes with about 90 hospices in its service area, and the majority are for-profit hospices, he said.
Julie Washington covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link.
