reprinted courtesy Maui News 10/9/11
By Chris Hamilton - Staff Writer, The Maui News
WAILUKU - For more than 30 years, Hospice Maui Inc. has provided Valley Isle residents suffering from terminal diseases with at-home professional nursing care, social workers and therapists to help adjust to their dire situations.
But now, for the first time in its history, Hospice Maui plans to go the more traditional route of a hospice. The nonprofit will allow people to die with dignity in its new planned 12-room, $6.3 million facility near its current offices at 400 Mahalani St. The administrative offices will be relocated.
Hospice Maui has raised $850,000 in private, low-key donations since January and received another $750,000 from Maui County and the state, with an expectation of getting the same amount from government sources next
year, said Hospice Maui Chief Executive Officer Greg LaGoy on Saturday.
It will be called Hale Ho'olu'olu, or "A Place for Comfort," said Paul Janes-Brown of Hospice Maui. And, instead of providing only outpatient services, which will continue with its staff of at least two dozen professional caregivers, LaGoy said Hospice Maui aims to provide, hopefully soon, "homey" residential care.
The new facility is expected to lead Hospice Maui to hire a dozen more people, LaGoy said.
The center would be the first of its kind on Maui, but such end-of-life care facilities exist throughout the United States and on Oahu, Janes-Brown said.
He said hospice care is economical, pointing out that hospitalization costs $1,200 per day for room and board without counting the costs of diagnostic procedures, interventions and medications; and hospice care costs only about $400 per day.
"We're building this because there are many people who die in a hospital who are too sick to go home, but who would be better off in hospice, which is a homelike environment," LaGoy said. "The staff is trained exclusively to make people feel comfortable and to address their every need or concern from the spiritual to the financial."
He also insisted that building this facility would not change the culture of Hospice Maui, which he said is to deliver the "absolute best care possible."
"The hospital's culture is about helping people to get better. Even though they work with people who are dying, that's all we do," LaGoy said. "There are now thousands of people on Maui who have the firsthand experience of how powerful it is to be involved in the last days and weeks of a loved one and how to provide for their comfort and help them keep their dignity."
The nonprofit has dozens of trained volunteers (and is always looking for more), LaGoy said. Its plans include private, individual, comfortable rooms. The expansion had not been officially made public, but it was an open secret.
Hospice Maui had already received a certificate of need from the state Department of Health, a requirement that ended some other efforts to provide new health care facilities, notably the proposed Malulani Health and Medical Center in Kihei several years ago, LaGoy noted.
In the past, Maui Memorial Medical Center has opposed efforts for other health care facilities. But the hospital Chief Executive Officer Wesley Lo has expressed support for adding more long-term care beds on Maui in order to free space at the hospital.
LaGoy said Maui Memorial was a major backer of Hospice Maui's plans to add beds for patients.
The planned Hale Ho'olu'olu will be able to accommodate individuals who are very ill, have no family support network, live alone or have no home, said LaGoy, who also is a physician.
And the state has agreed to contribute $500,000 this year toward its construction, with Maui County kicking in another $250,000, LaGoy said. The nonprofit has been told it is likely to receive another combined $750,000 from the same sources next year, he said.
Still, the effort needs more donations of funds, LaGoy said, especially to hit the nonprofit's goal of completing construction by the end of 2013. That target date will require Hospice Maui to raise $5 million, and the nonprofit plans to launch its capital campaign next month to coincide with its 30-year anniversary.
Those interested in donating now may go online to Hospice Maui's website at www.hospicemaui.org. People also may call 244-5555 to make a contribution or get more information, LaGoy said.
"Hale Ho'olu'olu is not just a building. It's the vision of an incredibly dedicated staff whose mission every day is to provide comfort, compassion and care to people who are dealing with a terminal illness. Either their own or that of a loved one. It's a vision I am very proud to be a part of and one that I hope will become a reality with the support of our community," said Hospice Maui board of directors President Trudi Tobin.
* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.
reprinted courtesy Maui News 10/9/11, original link www mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/554204/Hospice-Maui-plans-end-of-life-care-facility.html?nav=10
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