Kansas City's First Hospice House

by Margaret Cashill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With more than 29 million Americans aged 55 to 64—and a projected increase of 11 million more during the next 10 years—America is graying. As the aging segment of the population increases, fewer Americans can manage their healthcare on their own. Today, patients requiring extra medical attention can turn to Kansas City Hospice House.

Hospice House offers its patients the privacy and comfort of a private residence with a staff of doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, nurses’ aides and volunteers available on-call, 24 hours a day.       

Kansas City Hospice (KCH) opened in 1980 and now serves more than 2,000 individuals with advanced illnesses at their residences or nursing homes. For many years, they hoped to construct an inpatient facility. 

“The idea for Hospice House has been a dream of the organization for some years,” explains Elaine McIntosh, president & CEO of KCH. “In late 2003, we took a close look at the feasibility of building a Hospice House, and the board of directors felt as though we could proceed.”

The board worked with Zimmer Real Estate Services to acquire a building site. In May 2004, KCH purchased an empty nursing home at 120000 Wornall. Helix Architecture + Design planned the facility, and JE Dunn oversaw its construction. On April 7, 2005, the official groundbreaking ceremony took place before a crowd of more than 200. The doors opened the next April, on time and within budget.

Hospice House is the first inpatient hospice facility in Kansas City. “The concept of a hospice house is not new,” says McIntosh, “but they are not that common. Not every city has one, but many do.” Comparable facilities operate in St. Louis, Topeka and Omaha.

Hospice House specializes in pain and symptom management, transitional care and terminal care. A respect for the nature of the patients’ illnesses is inherent in the design of the home; with vaulted ceilings and numerous skylights, the interior is awash with natural light. The facility consists of 24 private rooms in two wings, divided into three eight-room sections. Each section has its own family room with a nurse’s station nearby. Patient rooms are spacious; each has a television, a desk and a sofa for overnight visitors, as well the specialized amenities of medical-grade carpeting, piped-in oxygen and roll-in showers. Patients also have access to a spa with a hydrotherapy tub, a nondenominational chapel, a library and a palliative medicine clinic. In the full service kitchen, families are welcome to prepare their own meals. Patios, courtyards and screened-in porches provide proximity to nature and the outdoors.

Eight additional “shelled,” or partially built sections, will allow for easy expansion in the future. “We anticipate that as time goes by that there will be an increasing need for this type of care,” comments McIntosh.

Occupancy is intended as a backup when care becomes too complicated or intense to manage at home. “The Hospice House is intended for short periods during illness when patients need closer medical attention to their symptoms,” McIntosh says. “It will always be our goal to try to keep people in their own homes.” The average length of stay is less than a week. 

As a not-for-profit agency, Hospice House serves people of all incomes, and does not discriminate on the basis of one’s ability to pay. Medicare, Medicaid and many private insurance policies cover expenses. Still, according to the Hospice of Association of America, only a fraction of qualifying patients take advantage of hospice care, and even fewer seek admission to a hospice house.