To close the annual Archbold Medical Center annual meeting, Archbold Foundation President Vann Middleton laid out the plans for a new inpatient hospice center.

Quietly, Archbold began amassing the capital needed to get it started. Officials wanted to make sure they had 80 percent of the funding secured before embarking on a public campaign. The campaign — with a goal of $6 million — is close to the $5 million mark. 

And what Archbold has in mind for the fourth floor of Archbold Hospital’s west wing is truly groundbreaking and ambitious. 

Archbold began contemplating inpatient hospice care many years ago. The two nearest inpatient hospice centers are in Albany and Valdosta. An Archbold-commissioned study showed that the limit patients will travel for inpatient hospice care is 30 miles.

Even within choosing hospice, families can have either inpatient or outpatient care.

Archbold’s decision to add to its hospice program with an inpatient alternative is a significant undertaking. And it is well worth the investment. Those families who have used hospice — and as an editor’s note, choosing an inpatient hospice route was the perfect way — can speak to how it helps not just the patient but the family.

For many people, hospice care is the best choice as a loved one faces a terminal condition. Hospice isn’t just for the loved one who may be facing the end of life. Hospice, and the comfort and service it provides, is a help to the families as well.

Archbold has kept that in mind as it designed the John B. and Elizabeth V. Wight Inpatient Hospice Center. The west wing’s fourth floor — far removed from regular patient areas — will become a home away from home, according to Archbold, for hospice patients and families. Volunteers will staff a resource center for patients and families. Floor-to-ceiling windows will grace a large reception area overlooking Gordon Avenue’s oak trees. There even will be a glass-enclosed playroom, where children and grandchildren can play games or watch television.

There also will be a family living room, between two patient suites, for loved ones to gather in a semi-private area. There will be a sunroom and a small chapel . There’s even a family kitchen area in the plans.

The patient rooms — six are planned — are designed to be larger than normal hospital patient rooms and comfortable, right down to a sleeper sofa so loved ones can spend the night.

Cost estimates are $3 million for initial build-out, $1 million for furnishings and equipment and a $2 million operating endowment. The campaign has reached the stage for a public appeal for support and based on the level of donation, a permanent plaque on a wall of donors will be established. There are even ways to provide the gift over a period of time. 

Work is slated to begin later this year and the hope is to have the inpatient hospice center completed in 2019-20. 

We congratulate Archbold Medical Center, the Wight family and the Archbold Foundation on this momentous project.