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LifePath Closes Original Hospice House

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LAURA CONE The Sun

Published: November 12, 2008

When a person who is terminally ill passes onto the next life, their final memories might be of the caring workers at LifePath Hospice in addition to their loved ones.

Patty Klein, the public relations specialist with Hillsborough County LifePath Hospice, said LifePath will close its original hospice house at Freedom Plaza, an 8-bed transitional residence. But they will continue to serve their "Routine Home Care" patients at their 24-bed facility one mile away in Ruskin.

Klein said the 8-bed residence was the original hospice house built in 2001, but they opened the larger facility in 2006.

"Sometimes patients come into our hospice house and they need to make arrangements for somewhere to stay temporarily or while their family is still making arrangements to bring them home," said Klein, adding the Sun City Center hospice house officially closes Nov. 14. "That level of care is not going to go away. We will absorb those patients into our 24-bed facility."

She said many patients come to the hospice house for pain management, but their primary care is provided in the home.

"There has been a period of time where the occupancy rate has decreased or declined," she said, adding they will not be selling the residence but just closing it.

They may re-examine the possibility of reopening in Freedom Plaza if they have an increase in the number of patients.

"We want to make sure the folks in the community know that service is still going to be there. It will just be at a different location," she said. "The folks supporting us have a big commitment to that first facility."

She said the hospice does provide transportation for people living in Sun City Center .

"Everyone employed at the 8-bed facility accepted other positions within the organization," Klein said. "No one has lost their jobs."

Sala Halm of Sun City Center said he met his current wife Helen a year after they both had personal experiences with hospice.

"My wife and her former husband died in the same hospice house in Sun City Center," said Halm, who is the president of the Friends of Hospice. "It's a tremendous program. It allowed my complete family to visit my wife in her dying moments. "

He said the friends organization raises money and tries to spread the good news about the work of hospice.

This Christmas they have their annual "Lights of Love" fundraiser. Their tree-lighting ceremony is set for Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. People may purchase symbolic lights for $25 in honor of a loved one.

For more information on LifePath Hospice, call Klein at (813) 871-8417.

Laura Cone may be reached at lcone@mediageneral.com.

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