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Highlands Today

Council Approves First Inpatient Hospice

ON HAMMOCK ROAD

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By Joe  Seelig | Highlands Today

Published: January 21, 2009

SEBRING - Becky McIntyre, regional director for Good Shepherd Hospice, said Wednesday she was delighted that the Sebring City Council approved building an inpatient hospice facility on Tuesday night; the first of its kind in Highlands County.

"We are here to provide for the end of life special needs of the residents of our local community," McIntyre said.

She told council members she was there to ask that they approve its development agreement and to confirm the site would be used for an inpatient hospice with an administrative building.

Following McIntyre's presentation, the council decided by a 4-1 vote to allow the 24,000 square-foot, 16-bed, inpatient hospice to be built on 6.3 acres located at 1110 Hammock Road, in Sebring.

"Last night was a wonderful victory for our residents in Highlands County," she said Wednesday, adding there was no solid timeline for construction to begin. "Now begins the permitting process. If everything sailed through I estimate seven to eight months."

The center is proposed for construction on the former site of Southern Oaks of Sebring, a 42-unit multi-family housing project that was not built due to economic factors, and is located next to the Ashley Oaks gated community on Hammock Road.

Hospice patients and their family and friends who visit prefer they remain in their hometown, McIntyre told council members during her presentation.

"We served 663 patients ranging in age from a few months to over 100 years old in the Highlands County area in 2008," she said. "Currently patients must travel nearly 50 miles to the nearest hospice house."

Therefore their visitors must travel 100 miles round trip for each visit. Some are not able to make the trip.

Several residents from Ashley Oaks attended the meeting and stood in favor of the hospice.

The facility is expected to provide 30 to 35 full-time jobs along with about 20 jobs created in other industries as well as local construction jobs where possible for the $7-plus million facility, she said.

The average yearly pay for professionals working there would be about $42,000.

City Councilman John Clark said he was not necessarily opposed to a hospice, but felt strongly that any approval should go through a rezoning process including public hearings, and cast the dissenting vote.

City Attorney Bob Swaine told council members that if it decided that Hospice belonged in an R-3 zoning, it could rezone, or simply decide that it was a "special needs" facility as designated in its R-2 zoning.

In June of 2004 the council amended its ordinance for R-3, and excluded a number of uses, including boarding houses, hospitals, clinics, guest houses and accessory buildings, which was the basis of Swaine's opinion.

Contrary to Swaine's legal opinion, Councilwoman Margie Rhoades argued the much needed facility fell under the city's special needs designation allowed in the city's R-2 zoning.

And therefore because the property is in R-3 zoning, everything allowed in R-2 automatically applied, she said.

Councilman John Griffin said he had planned to vote against the hospice but was swayed by McIntyre's presentation.

Rhoades also mentioned that another reason the facility is important is that when a family member dies, the patients wouldn't have to die in their homes, which could create a psychological problem for the remaining family members.

"I think we would be very short-sighted if we don't approve this," said Sebring Mayor George Hensley. "I think we need to support this as a council whatever category we put it in."

Council first voted 4-1 and agreed with Rhoades on the special needs issue. A second 4-1 vote approved its development agreement.

Now also begins the fundraising process, McIntyre said Wednesday.

Hospice receives funding by billing patients through Medicare and Medicaid, private insurance and also is funded through private donations, she said.

"Patients are accepted regardless of their ability to pay," she said.

Several names for the center have been suggested including the Hospice Care Center and Highlands Hospice House, but these could change if a substantial donor came forward and the facility took on that family name like the Forsythe Hospice House in Auburndale or the Melech Hospice House in Temple Terrace.

There will also be sponsorship opportunities for possibly naming individual patient rooms after sponsors, or perhaps even memorial garden areas.

Anyone wishing to make a donation should mark their check's memo section designating it for the Highlands Hospice House, and mailing it to Good Shepherd Hospice, 4418 Sun 'n Lake Blvd., Sebring, Fla., 33872.

According to a previous story the 6.3 acres was annexed into the city on July 19, 2005. The Southern Oaks project did not happen and the property has remained vacant.

Good Shepherd may one day expand the facility to 28,500 square feet and would house a maximum of 24 patients per day. A separate 7,900-square -foot administration support building is also proposed on the site.

Highlands Today reporter Joe Seelig can be reached at (863) 386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com.

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