What is a Hospice House?

 

A Hospice House is a very special, mission-oriented place where local inpatient skilled nursing services are offered. This residential place provides a home away from home for a patient’s last days.  It is highly personalized and touches people in ways that few other services do.

End-of-life care in a Hospice House is usually for a few short days or weeks of life. This means the environment must respond quickly to sudden changes in a patient’s condition and provide a meaningful experience during a brief length of stay. This level of care is non-traditional medical care. High-tech, sterile environments are inappropriate, unnecessary and counterproductive to fulfilling the concept of death with dignity.

Currently, our community’s hospice patients cannot receive local inpatient skilled nursing services except in a hospital setting.  It is a burden on some of our patients and families to know that they have to go out of town to receive residential hospice services. By building a local Hospice House, patients can still be close to their families, friends and local physicians, alleviating anxiety for the patient over these issues.

Research has shown a growing need for a Hospice House in Oskaloosa. Mahaska Hospice estimates that more than 87 percent of their patients in the last four years would have benefitted from a local Hospice House.   The homelike setting of a Hospice House is a more appealing, long-term option for those unable to stay in their own home.  Numerous families have expressed their desire to stay in Mahaska County for hospice residential services.

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