Hospice House in Glenwood closing
The Hospice With Heart house, which over the past 12 years has served the needs of Glenwood-area residents facing terminal illness, is closing its doors.
The closure was announced last week by HCI Care Services / Visiting Nurse Services (HCI/VNS), a West Des Moines-based health and human services firm that has managed Hospice With Heart operations since 2014.
HCI/VNS president and CEO Tray Wade said Hospice With Heart will continue to serve the Mills County area as an in-home hospice provider.
“The Hospice With Heart team provides wonderful care to our patients and families, and we look forward to many more years of helping people live and die with dignity in the place they call home,” Wade said.
In an interview with The Opinion-Tribune, Wade noted that HCI/VNS serves 44 counties in southern Iowa, almost exclusively as an in-home hospice provider. Hospice With Heart in Glenwood is one of only three hospice houses in the 44-county region.
Wade said the hospice house in Glenwood typically served less than 50 patients annually.
“It was an incredibly difficult decision to close the hospice house, and it only came after carefully scrutinizing how the facility has been used,” Wade says. “We found that while our past hospice facility patients all benefited from our compassionate care, many had care needs which – while hospice-appropriate – were not always aligned with the high-acuity, short-term use for which hospice houses are intended.”
Wade said finding adequate staff to operate the house has been a challenge.
“More and more, one of the biggest issues we’ve had is getting the staff needed to completely offer the needs and services required to man a 24-7 facility,” Wade said.
The Hospice With Heart house in Glenwood employed five Registered Nurses and five Certified Nursing Assistants. Wade said it’s possible that some of the staff losing their jobs in Glenwood will apply for “a few positions” open with HCI/VNS.
Nationally, Wade said, the trend is for most hospice care to be provided in-home and in assisted living and skilled care nursing facilities.
No specific closing date for the Glenwood facility has been established, but new patients are no longer being admitted.
Hospice With Heart team director Kristy Razee said staff will be working with each patient at the hospice house during the coming weeks to best address their needs while ensuring the highest quality care.
“Our top priority is the care and comfort of our patients, and we want to make this change as seamless as possible for those we serve,” Razee says.
Depending on their individual care needs, Razee said some patients at the hospice house may live out their final days at the facility, while others may be transferred to long-term care facilities, where they may continue to receive home-based hospice care.
Wade said Hospice With Heart is meeting the terms of its contract with the state of Iowa to end its lease of the house on the Glenwood Resource Center campus.