Community Hospice House:  Meeting a Community Need

A hospice house fills a clearly unmet need in Richmond.  Despite its size, the Richmond community has no residential hospice house. Such residential end-of-life care does not exist east of Charlottesville and west of Williamsburg in central Virginia in a 55-mile radius.

While hospice is often delivered in the familiar surroundings of patients’ homes, for many in our community, staying at home is simply not possible.  Multiple-family and caregiver dynamics create situations where patients at end-of-life either cannot medically or safely remain at home. These patients in the Richmond area are frequently admitted to a hospital or a nursing home.

The need for high quality end-of-life care has vastly increased. The demand for hospice services is expected to skyrocket over the next 10 to 15 years, as our community grows older and baby boomers age. Currently, with no hospice house in Richmond today, the need for a residential facility is great.