Eager to start building a new hospice but still looking to pin down a location site, Bedford Hospice House Inc. is interested in leasing Bedford County-owned land on Falling Creek Road.
The nonprofit board of directors met with the Bedford County Board of Supervisors on Monday to express interest in the land beside the county Group Homes facility. While raising $1.6 million for the project over the past three years, the nonprofit had originally envisioned locating in the city of Bedford on land owned by Bedford Memorial Hospital.
However, that plan has not come to fruition because of engineering concerns and lack of public utilities, said Jacquelyn Wente, president of the board of directors.
Wente told supervisors the board unanimously supported investigating other properties. The site on Falling Creek Road is the most suitable of options to locate on county-owned land.
“There’s just a lot of advantages,” Wente said of the property. “We have the money; we have our contributors anxious for us to get started on this.”
The hospice would be a four-room facility with a second phase planned for expanding to eight rooms, she said. It would operate as Bedford House.
“We’re very proud of that name,” Wente said. “We really think this is going to be an asset to Bedford County.”
It would not be considered a hospice facility as allowed under state code, according to a Sept. 4 memorandum to the supervisors from Bedford County Admin-istrator Kathleen Guzi. It would operate and be licensed as an assisted-living facility through the Virginia Department of Social Ser-vices while serving end-of-life needs and offering hospice services.
“Our facility is going to be home-like,” said Wente. “We don’t want it to be institutional.”
The group homes, which started in 1997 as a program for young people, moved to its current location on Falling Creek Road in 2007.
Wente said it was advantageous to be next to the homes because patients at the end of their lives would love seeing young people. Another benefit of the site is its close proximity to Falling Creek Park.
“It’s wonderful to get out in the fresh air and sunshine, no matter how sick you are,” Wente said.
The home would serve a 50-mile radius around Bedford, she said.
The nonprofit plans to continue fundraising efforts to build up its endowment — it is currently seeking to raise $30,000 by Oct. 4 to receive a $100,000 challenge grant from an anonymous donor.
Bedford County contributed $50,000 to its $1.6 million capital campaign, which reached its goal earlier this year.
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