Hospice Suites to Bring Comfort at The Neighborhoods at Brookview
- March 18, 2013
Foundation donations to enhance hospice experience for residents
When The Neighborhoods at Brookview opens this spring, the skilled nursing facility will feature a new amenity: hospice suites, rooms dedicated to those residents who face a terminal illness and receive hospice care.
“Hospice isn’t a place. Hospice is a comprehensive kind of care that focuses on living,” said Hospice and Home Health Director Lynne Kaufmann. “We can provide hospice care wherever the home is, even if the person’s home is a nursing home.”
Funds donated to Brookings Health System Foundation will help enhance hospice care at The Neighborhoods at Brookview. Suites within the new facility are being designed specifically to provide medical, emotional and spiritual care for hospice patients, helping them to live as fully as possible, surrounded by family and friends, up until the end of life.
The project, focused on placing the patient and family at the center of the care process, is a work-in-progress led by Kaufmann and Brookview Administrator Jason Hanssen.
According to Kaufmann, the plan is to enhance one room initially. “We plan to provide inspirational artwork for the walls. For the comfort of the resident and the family, we will invest in special bedding, comforters and a chair that pulls out to a bed so family members can stay close to their loved one.”
The hospice areas at The Neighborhoods at Brookview will feature technology that supports long distance communication, including an HDTV and computer to enable internet video conferencing with family members and others who are not able to travel to Brookings to be with their loved one.
“At times, we depend upon entertainment to divert our attention and help us relax,” said Hanssen. “To meet those needs, a DVD player, stereo system, and mini-refrigerator will be included in these hospice areas.”
Hospice staff will coordinate with skilled nursing staff at The Neighborhoods to offer professional support and care, high-quality pain management and symptom control.
While Brookings Health System has the funding to build the new house, Brookings Health System Foundation is asking the community to help raise $600,000 by June 1 to “Make This House a Home.”
The new, pod-style facility will have three distinct neighborhoods. Each neighborhood will consist of two households that will accommodate 13 residents, a total of 26 residents per neighborhood. The neighborhoods and households will include kitchen and living spaces as well as private family dining rooms, spa areas and other amenities, enabling residents to live in a home-like atmosphere.
In addition to the hospice enhancements, Foundation Development Officer Barb Anderson says funds raised will be used to purchase items over and above the building project budget, which may include pianos, art by South Dakota artists, raised garden beds, a pool table, landscaping, a bus and bus garage, whirlpool baths and a system to pipe oxygen to each room.
Donations can be made to the campaign online at www.brookingshealth.org/foundation or mailed to Brookings Health System Foundation, 300 Twenty-Second Avenue, Brookings, SD, 57006.
About Brookings Health System Foundation
Brookings Health System Foundation works to cultivate philanthropic gifts to support charity health care for those less fortunate; health and wellness education; facility, equipment, and technology upgrades; and other needs as they arise at Brookings Health System. For more information about Brookings Health System Foundation or how you may contribute, please contact Foundation Officer Barb Anderson at (605) 696-8855 or foundation@brookingshealth.org.
About Brookings Health System
Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed Brookview Manor nursing home, and Brookhaven Estates apartments. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, and extended care services. The emergency room is staffed 24 hours a day and provides around the clock medical-nursing care for patient needs ranging from minor injuries to life threatening crises. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at www.brookingshealth.org.