Groundbreaking Ceremonies Held for Freestanding Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County Hospice House

 Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County is constructing a freestanding Hospice House and administrative office to be located on the Upper Valley Medical Center campus. This building will give hospice patients a new option for inpatient hospice care and expanded opportunities for end-of-life educational offerings for the community. 

The building will initially have 12 beds when it opens, with sufficient space on the site for a six-bed addition when needed. There will be an interfaith chapel as well as a center of excellence training center. 

Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County is celebrating 35 years of service to the community this year. The local not-for-profit organization opened a seven-bed inpatient unit inside UVMC in late 2014. Those services, along with the offices at the Summit Professional Building in Troy, will relocate to the new approximately 32,000 square-foot facility, which will be adjacent to Koester Pavilion on the north side of the hospital campus. 

The new building will be conveniently located and easy to find for family and friends of patients. It will feature a spa and massage room for patients, exterior doors in all patient rooms to enable them to enjoy the outdoors, private meeting spaces for families, a large family living area and a center of excellence meeting space for clinical and community education programs. In addition, it will be home to 75 staff members and over 125 volunteers. 

“We have seen the number of patients we serve daily double in just three years to more than 150 patients a day,” said Heather Bolton, Executive Director of Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County and Vice President of Mission Operations for Ohio’s Hospice. “This new facility reflects our commitment to respond to a growing community need for end-of-life care. While most hospice patients receive care at home, in an assisted living or nursing facility environment, the need for this option of care is growing. We’re pleased to provide all of the services that accompany a freestanding Hospice House as well as bereavement care in close proximity to Upper Valley Medical Center. We appreciate our long-standing partnership with UVMC and the support of the UVMC Community Benefits Fund. 

“This very welcome addition of a Hospice inpatient facility on the Upper Valley Medical Center campus reinforces our commitment to assuring a full complement of quality, compassionate health care services for area residents,” said Tom Parker, president of Upper Valley Medical Center. “Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County over the years has earned the trust and admiration of thousands of local families. We’re proud to have partnered with them through the years and to now help them launch this very important project.” 

“With a new permanent home dedicated to serving the community, we will be able to serve more patients and families” shared Tom Hagan, Chair of Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County Board of Directors. “This freestanding Hospice House will continue to ensure that all patients and families continue to receive superior services and superior care for decades to come from Ohio’s Hospice of Miami County.” 

See below photos from our event!