Community Gathers to Celebrate Missoula’s New Hospice Center

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - I, along with several other media reporters, was invited on Thursday to tour the soon to be opened Hope Hospice Center located on Union Street across from the Home Depot.

I spoke with Amanda Yeoman Melvo, Executive Director of the Partners Health Foundation, Betsy Bach, President of the Partners Hope Foundation and Corin Schneider, CEO of Partners in Home Care about the state of the art facility.

The New Hope Hospice Center will Open for Patients in July

“We are actively preparing for opening here in July, so that will be just right around the corner,” began Yeoman Melvo. “We're so thrilled to have our dedication event next week and give the community an opportunity to come in see the building, see what their generosity has done. That will be a multi day event to make sure that people get a chance to come in and take a look at it. But yes, we are actively preparing in every way that you can imagine, to get ready to start taking patients.”

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Organizer Betsy Bach Asked other Founders 'Are We Nuts?"

Betsy Bach, looking back on the initial planning phase of the hospice center, joked about whether the facility could be built.

“It's very exciting, because I'm one of the four founding members. And, well, I was just telling Amanda, I think I told Corin too,” began Bach. “I was going through the notes of our meetings, the very first meeting. And, you know, everybody's coming up with ideas. And I noticed I'd written in the margin in big letters, ‘are we nuts?’ And you know, it came to fruition!”

Corin Schneider of Partners in Home Care gave me a tour of the facility that contains 12 suites for those facing the end of life.

There Will be 12 End of Life Care Suites at the Hope Hospice Center

“At Partners in Home Care, we provide in-home hospice care for the last six months or so of someone's life journey,” she said. “To be able to bring our patients into the center when they need a higher level of care, or respite care, or just routine residential care for a period of time to be able to give the family some respite, to be able to give patients a hospital level health care experience is just an incredible opportunity for us.”

The layout of the facility is skillfully designed to take maximum advantage of its space.

“One of the things that we can provide in a space like this is to have all of the disciplines concentrated in one area, to come to the patient, our social work, our chaplains, our bereavement team, our nurse practitioners, our physician, our all of our care team to be right here in this beautiful space, to be able to sit with the patient, with families, and provide that 24 hour care.”

Hope Hospice will provide 24/7 ‘whole person hospice care’. There will be a grand opening ceremony on Tuesday, June 3 from 11:00 a.m. to noon with the ceremonial ribbon cutting at 3615 Union Pacific Street, across from Home Depot.