Hospice house on horizon

Tidewell Hospice CEO Gerry Radford believes Tidewell Hospice has reached, perhaps, the biggest milestone of its 36-year history.

On March 3, Tidewell officials gathered with community representatives to celebrate the groundbreaking of the future Lakewood Ranch Tidewell Hospice hospice house location at 11535 Rangeland Parkway, Lakewood Ranch.

“We have a number of hospice houses already — seven to be exact,” Radford said. “This new one, our eighth, will be our largest by far.”

The 14,810-square-foot hospice house is being built to accommodate the community’s future needs. Although hospice houses range from six to 12 beds, the Lakewood Ranch house will be equipped to care for 24 patients. Initially, only 12 beds will be available, but the space will be built out in such a way that when the additional rooms are needed, Tidewell will simply install dividing walls in a space that will otherwise remain unused.

During the 2015-2016 fiscal year, Tidewell Hospice provided care to 2,683 Manatee County residents, including 478 Lakewood Ranch-area residents. Its patient count in Manatee County increased 20% between 2012 and 2015.

The Lakewood Ranch area’s significant growth and plans for continued growth make it a prime location for the facility.

“The important point is the proximity to where people live,” Radford said. “It’s important we’re close to the patients families and loved ones so they can spend time with those we care for.”

Tidewell Hospice had a 6-bed facility within Lakewood Ranch Medical Center for three years, before closing in May 2015 because the hospital required the space for other needs. But Tidewell’s presence there showed the organization the need in Lakewood Ranch existed.

Tidewell Board Chairman Mike Uselton said that not every family can handle end-of-life care on its own, so the hospice house will provide options for those or others who chose to use it. 

“It provides that peaceful transition for a lot of families,” Uselton said. 

Radford said construction on the new hospice house should take about 10 months, with completion around November. State and local inspections may take about two months, so Tidewell expects to open around Jan. 1, 2018,  but hopefully sooner.