Tidewell Hospice plans new facility in Lakewood Ranch

Carole Zoellner’s brush with hospice turned her into a volunteer.

Her mother, Shirley Bergamini, was 80 years old when she died in 2006 at the Tidewell Hospice house in Ellenton. Bergamini called it the “nicest bed and breakfast she was ever in.”

Zoellner and her husband, Dieter, had been staying at Bergamini’s bedside, but had gone home to eat lunch when her mother died. Carole Zoellner wished she could have been there.

“If it were in Lakewood Ranch, it would have been a lot closer,” she said.

Now Tidewell Hospice, a nonprofit hospice provider that serves Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto and Charlotte counties, is moving in that direction. It announced Oct. 18 it will construct a new hospice house in Lakewood Ranch and is kicking off a campaign to raise $5 million for the project. 

Tidewell Chief Philanthropic Officer Denise Pope, a River Club resident, is tasked with raising more than double what Tidewell already raises annually. Her strategy of sharing Tidewell’s vision to serve the community won’t change much, but having the capital campaign and construction on a new hospice house in Lakewood Ranch will open up more conversations and encourage people to give at a greater level.

“It’s something tangible,” Pope said. “They will know their investment is helping their neighbors, their friends, and their families.”

Tidewell is fronting the money for the project and plans to begin construction on the hospice house in March. Construction will take about a year.

In September 2015, Tidewell closed on a 2.45-acre property on Rangeland Parkway, east of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, for $1.25 million.

Learn more at tidewellatlwr.org.