Hospice Care’s In-Patient Unit Set to Open in the Summer

12-Bed Unit Will Also House Hospice’s Administration

By CARRA HIGGINS, Staff Writer
Randolph County will soon have a new care facility for individuals in need of limited respite, transition and acute care. Hospice Care Corp.’s fourth in-patient care unit in West Virginia, located along Diamond Street in Elkins, is scheduled to open during the summer.

A full-time staff of registered nurses, certified nursing assistants and a social worker will provide 24-hour, seven-days-a-week care for the 12-bed unit. A physician will also be on staff. Patients will have their own room, a community sitting room, a Wall of Faith and other amenities to make the facility feel like home, explained Donna Siebert, a Hospice Care representative.

Hospice Care has already received positive feedback from people in area, and others have inquired how they can arrange a room for family members, Siebert said. Admission to the in-patient care unit will be based on referrals, Siebert said.

The care patients will receive at the facility will give families peace of mind for their loved ones, explained Howard Swick, vice president of marketing and development for Hospice Care. Because the in-patient unit is Hospice Care’s first in northern West Virginia, people around the region will not have to travel as far to see family and friends staying in the facility, Swick said. Currently, Hospice Care has in-patient units at Charleston, Beckley and Huntington, Swick said.

Other than the in-patient unit, the new complex will also house the Randolph County Hospice Care Corp. administration, Siebert explained. The staff currently operates from its office along Randolph Avenue.

“We’re really excited about the new office,” Siebert said.

Hospice Care wants the facility to belong to the community, and will offer the opportunity to name the facility and its rooms, according to Siebert. To name the in-patient unit and individual rooms, Hospice Care will arrange for donors to make payments, according to Swick. Only one contributor will be able to name each available entity, Siebert said.

Other than the donations to name the rooms and building, Hospice Care will need ongoing monetary contributions to ensure facility maintenance and building costs, explained Siebert.

For more information about sponsoring a room or making a donation to Hospice Care, call Swick at 457-2141.