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In push for Franklin hospice house, perseverance pays
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JAKE FLANNICK SMN CORRESPONDENT nearly decade-long dream to build an inpatient hospice house for the terminally ill and their families in Franklin is closer to becoming a reality. It will be the only one of its kind in the far western counties, yet the champions of a hospice house in Franklin were faced with seemingly endless setbacks and hurdles — political, financial and logistical. Initially a crucial health care partner, Angel Medical Center pulled out of the project, preferring instead to continue serving hospice patients in the hospital setting. Soon after, the state rejected a necessary “certificate of need,” essentially stopping it cold. The obstacles facing the Hospice House Foundation of Western North Carolina to open a center in Franklin seemed insurmountable. “I didn’t know anything about what to do,” Michele Alderson, president of the foundation, said of navigating the many bureaucratic hurdles that kept getting in her way. The small group of hospice volunteers and medical professionals persevered, however, to finally realize the vision of offering what is considered a crucial service — especially in a region with a relatively large elderly population. Asked if she or others behind the effort ever considered giving up amid the adversity, Alderson answered quickly. “Never. It only made us stronger,” she said.” The foundation will need every bit of that resolve as it enters perhaps its biggest challenge yet: a capital campaign to raise $4 million. It now has a site, a permit from the state, a managing partner to run the facility, and a base of supporters. But the fundraising effort could prove challenging amid a competitive nonprofit sector vying for donations. Last week, the foundation kicked off its capital campaign with a ceremony celebrating a $1 million grant from the N.C. State Employees’ Credit Union. The challenge grant comes with a condition: that the foundation raise a $1 million match within the community by next fall.
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A HOME IN FRANKLIN The location for the inpatient center is the former house of a prominent figure in Franklin, Merle Dryman. Her involvement in the town ranged from working as a secondary school teacher for more than 30 years to starting an enduring garden club and serving as an alderman, her name eventually given to a section of U.S. 64. She died in 2010, after which her two sons put the house on the market. The center is expected to open in 2016,
though construction of a new space designed to house six patient rooms and medical supplies could be finished as early as late 2015, Alderson said. She added that the existing part of the house will include a chapel and a space for visiting family members. Four Seasons Compassion for Life, an independent hospice and palliative care nonprofit based in Henderson County, will operate the center, which will include a group of certified nurses and aides and a physician,
To learn more about the Hospice House Foundation, or donate to the captial campaign, visit www.hhfwnc.org or 828.524.6375.
need for the center, let alone raise enough money for it. Despite these travails, the foundation and Four Seasons appealed the decision by the state, eventually regaining certification in 2012. Initially seeking to build The future home of a six-bed inpatient hospice an inpatient cenhouse in Franklin will provide an alternative ter on Old setting for end-of-life care, if the group can Murphy Road, successfully raise a remaining $3 million. also in Franklin, the foundation later bought the current house for $250,000 as a way to reduce costs. “It’s been a long road,” said Ron Fisher, the director of hosTerry Barnes photo pice care with along with bereavement counselors and a MedWest Health Systems in Sylva, who is chaplain. Four Seasons, made up of some among the founding members of the founda400 volunteers across the region, has several tion. He was referring to what he described hospice operations in the region, including at as the “frustratingly slow” process of earning the Highlands-Cashiers Hospital. the state certification, though he added that The idea for a Franklin hospice center the adversity did not appear to discourage was hatched in The Dillsboro Smokehouse, what he and others have dubbed the “tenaciwhere a handful of home health aides and ty board” of foundation members. medical professionals from across the region Hospice is not a remedial form of health gathered to discuss ways to extend hospice care. Usually staffed by volunteers, it is seen services to the far western part of the state. as a source of respite, whether physical or The foundation later formed in 2005, growemotional, for the terminally ill and their ing to what now is now more than a dozen families. members on its board of directors. While many facing such circumstances tend to remain at home, some are recommended by family members to inpatient ENACIOUS ROOTS facilities to help alleviate symptoms, like pain The lengths to which the group would and nausea, that can surface as a result of eventually go to pursue such an ambition, complications from their condition. however, were likely unforeseen. Reimbursements for inpatient services, The hospice house was initially going to known as respite care, are offered under be a joint venture with Angel Medical Center Medicare and Medicaid. in Franklin. But Angel Medical pulled out in The reach of the planned hospice center 2009, preferring instead to provide hospice in Franklin could stretch across the region. care within the hospital itself as it always Whether the need for such services in Macon had, rather than in a stand-alone facility. is greater than that of other parts of the The foundation found a new partner in region is unclear. About one-fourth of the Four Seasons, but was then unable to get its county’s population is age 65 and older, so-called “certificate of need” from the N.C. according to the U.S. Census Bureau, among Department of Health and Human Services. the highest in a region whose mountainous The permit is required for any medical faciliterrain is seen by home hospice care aides ty in the state in an attempt to align hospital- and families of patients as a logistical chaltype services with demand. It essentially limlenge. According to the county sherriff ’s its competition to keep start-up medical facil- office, in 2011 at least 50 people died in their ities from undermining the strength of existhomes in Macon without adequate care from ing ones. home health aides or family members. The Health and Human Services Department denied its request, citing objecSHORTAGE IN tions from Angel Medical that the foundation was unable to demonstrate a substantive Of the nearly 60 inpatient hos-
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