Eli's Hospice Insider

From 3 to 16 beds, new facilities are serving their communities.

GIP care may be on enforcement authorities’ minds more than ever, in light of a recent $10 million settlement over related billing. Add to that the number of hospice facilities continuing to open, and the GIP target only grows larger.

Take a look at these new hospice facilities:

In Washington state: Longview-based Community Home Health & Hospice has opened a 10-bed facility in Salmon Creek in Vancouver, reports The Columbian newspaper. The next phase for the facility will be construction of an 8,700-square-foot grief support center and memorial garden, then another 10-bed addition to the hospice in 2017 or 2018, the paper says.

In Michigan: The nonprofit Save Brian’s House Community Group is renovating and opening a six-bed hospice residence at a former church in Hampton Township, reports mlive.com. Bay City based for-profit Home and Hospice Advantage will lease and operate the facility. The original Brian’s House was moved, then closed in 2012 by McLaren Bay Region. McLaren offers inpatient hospice care on its main campus. Save Brian’s House has raised about $200,000 toward its $300,000-to-$400,000 goal and hopes to open in the fall, according to mlive.com.

In Connecticut: Regional Hospice and Home Care’s 12-bed Center for Comfort Care and Healing began operating in Danbury earlier this year, notes the Wilton Bulletin. The 36,000-square-foot, stand-alone, nonprofit-run facility has 144 employees and will house about 1,000 patients a year — mostly youth — and their families. Regional Hospice went through an eight-year process, necessitating changes to the state’s laws, to build the $12 million center, the newspaper says.

In Texas: Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene broke ground for a new Hospice Care Center last month, reports WKTX News. The $12 million, 40,800-square-foot inpatient center will have 16 rooms, as well as a bereavement center, home care offices, space for volunteer training, and common areas for families and visitors, the station says. Hendrick Hospice has operated for 30 years.

In Virginia: Bon Secours Health System is finishing up its Bon Air Community Hospice House in Richmond, reports Richmond BizSense. Bon Secours is a bit short of its $8 million fundraising goal for the facility, but it has enough funding to complete construction and open the doors soon.

In North Carolina: Mountain Valley Hospice & Palliative Care plans to build a six-bed hospice facility in Yadkinville next year, reports the Yadkin Ripple newspaper. Land has already been purchased for the project. Fundraising is more than half-way to its $2.5 million goal, reports the Winston-Salem Journal.

In Idaho: Hospice of Eastern Idaho plans to open the state’s second hospice home by August, reports the News-Press & Gazette of Idaho. The facility in Ammon will have six beds.

In Utah: Nonprofit organization The Inn Between plans to open a hospice facility aimed at serving homeless people in Salt Lake City, reports Fox 13 News. The hospice and homeless facility hopes to open in mid-August, but has faced pushback from the city council.

In Iowa: Hospice Home of Johnson County has raised about $125,000 toward its goal of opening a four- to eight-bed facility in 2016, it says on its website.

In Hawaii: Nonprofit Islands Hospice will open Maui’s first hospice inpatient unit this summer, reports the Maui Time newspaper. Kahului Hospice Home plans to accept its first patients by July 1.

In Maryland: The Caroline Hospice Home in Denton is scheduled to reopen in August, after months of renovations, reports the Star Democrat newspaper. The three-bed facility’s owner, the Caroline Hospice Foundation, has entered into a partnership with Compass Regional Hospice to operate the facility, according to the paper.

In New Hampshire: Hyder Family Hospice House in Dover has reopened. The county-owned facility was closed last year. Now it will have “open admission,” meaning guests served by any hospice may stay there, reports the Portsmouth Herald newspaper.