Sentinel Lakewood
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 89, Issue 49
July 18, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlakewoodnews.com
Hospice ends inpatient program Sequester cuts force home care exclusively By Clarke Reader
creader@ourcoloradonews.com Lakewood’s Hospice of Saint John, one of the nation’s oldest centers for those at the end of their lives, is closing its doors to inpatient services after 36 years. Saint John is another victim of federal sequestration cuts, losing $250,000 in annual revenue. Since hospices rely on Medicare for much of their funding, the acrossthe-board 2 percent cut in Medicare for all inpatient services for hospitals and other facilities made it impossible for Saint John to continue as it had been. According to president Steve Cooper, Medicare bills weren’t paid for 10 days beginning Oct. 1, 2012, which also hurt the hospice. Seven patients who are still at the hospice will be moved to other facilities if possible before it has to shut its doors. Saint John will still provide home-care options, but the board voted to stop admitting new patients to the 44-bed center in mid-June, Cooper said. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when we made that vote. We’ve cared for 35,000 patients in our 36 years.” he said. “We love our community, and we’re hoping that something will come along that will allow us to resurrect this.” Cooper said that 80 percent of the patients with whom Saint John works do not actually live at the center, and the nurses, physicians and priests administer to patients wherever they call home. “We administer to everyone, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation — whoever needs us, that’s who we take care of,” he said. While the hospice has been given the gold standard in health care and accreditation by The Joint Commission, the costs of inpatient care, including the kitchen staff, nurses station and repair costs outweighed the small, 3 to 4 percent margin that the homecare side of the operation provided. According to Casey Frey, development officer for the Hospice of Saint John Foundation, the foundation will still carry on its efforts to raise funds through an annual golf tournament and donations. “This has been tough because the staff here really cares, but we still want to be able to provide the best care we can,” she said. Cooper said Jeffco aging population — particularly in Lakewood, which has the oldest population group in the county —
Hospice of Saint John president Steven Cooper said that the center is still committed to providing the best care available to patients, but all the care given will now be at residences, not at the center. Photos by Clarke Reader will create many questions about services for the elderly, and hospice care is one facet that will no longer be the same. “If you were going to put a hospice center anywhere, this is the place to do it because of the population around us,” he said. “I don’t think the government thought about how it would affect everyone with these cuts, and some of the first people hurt were patients and their families.” Cooper said that he is still an optimist and will work to provide patients with all they need as they prepare to die. “We refuse to give substandard care,” he said. “Families and patients deserve that.” For more information on the hospice, go online to www. hospiceofsaintjohn.org.
The lobby at the Hospice of Saint John. The leaves on the trees on the wall are brass, with the names of people who donated to keep the hospice going.
Deaf school finds a new home in south Jefferson County Fehringer Ranch subdivided to give 10 acres to school
could move from their current location in a strip mall in the Applewood neighborhood to a building designed especially for deaf students, but the grant was in danger of expiring. Jeffco agreeing to sell part of the land at Fehringer to RMDS came just in time, and will allow the school to use the grant. The school has already reached out to nearby D’Evelyn High School, and it has been extremely welcoming to its new neighbors. According to Amy Novotny, principal of the school, the building was designed around the rectangular shape of the 10 acres, in a way that makes use of the open space for outdoor activities and mountain views. Sevier said that they found some
By Clarke Reader
creader@ourcoloradonews.com Rocky Mountain Deaf School has found a place to call home after years of being in limbo. The RMDS new location will be built on 10 acres at Fehringer Ranch, at the southwest corner of S. Kipling Parkway and W. Nassau Ave. in south Jefferson County. “Jeffco started talking to us about selling us some land at Fehringer Ranch. They weren’t planning to sell it to anyone, but they decided to open it up to us,” said Derek Sevier, co-chair of the school’s building team. He is also deaf and is the father of two deaf children. “The land is 108 acres, but it’s being subdivided so we’re able to just use 10 acres for our school.” The school was originally slated to be built at 2090 Wright St. in Lakewood, but due to neighborhood outcry against rezoning the land for the school, and legal issues,
RMDS continues on Page 20
The Rocky Mountain Deaf School’s current location at a strip mall in Golden. Photo by Clarke Reader RMDS had to look somewhere else. Time was a factor for RMDS. The school
received a $13 million BEST grant from the Colorado Department of Education so it
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