County To Get First Freestanding Hospice House

SEBRING The Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration announced last week that it has approved Good Shepherd Hospice's application to build the first freestanding hospice house in Highlands County.

"Patients and families facing the challenges of end-of-life issues want care that is compassionate and close by," said Kathy L. Fernandez, president/CEO of HPC Healthcare Inc. HPC Healthcare is the parent organization of Good Shepherd Hospice.

A hospice house is an acute care, inpatient facility specifically designed to address the requirements and requests of patients facing the end of life. In a hospice house, healthcare professionals provide pain management, symptom control and medical procedures in a safe, homelike setting where families and friends are encouraged to visit. Currently, Good Shepherd Hospice operates the George C. Forsythe Hospice House in Auburndale and a hospice unit at Palm Terrace of Lakeland.

Good Shepherd officials have identified a piece of property that is centrally located in Sebring. However, they have not closed on the land.

The Highlands County Hospice House will be only the second freestanding facility of this type within Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties, both of which Good Shepherd Hospice operates. In Hillsborough County, HPC Healthcare also operates two hospice houses and a hospice residence.

The Highlands County Hospice House will be built in an old-Florida style and feature a homelike environment that includes private rooms equipped with comfortable beds, sofa sleepers for family members, cable television with DVD players, a spacious common living room and screened lanais for reflective moments.

Other amenities will include a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, a family laundry facility, a decorated cafe, a play area for children who visit loved ones, a library with a computer terminal equipped with Internet access and a spiritual retreat room. Eventually, Good Shepherd will build a brick garden for quiet, thoughtful moments and remembrances.

A Good Shepherd Hospice physician will oversee the care delivered at the hospice house, with a registered nurse and other certified healthcare professionals on duty 24 hours a day. In addition, trained volunteers will visit to provide companionship for patients or a much-needed break for family members.