- May 5, 2024
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The facility will serve patients and families in Ormond and Flagler County.
Halifax Health conducted “hard hat” tours Oct. 30 for VIPs at the hospice care center being constructed on Booth Road. The company is offering a chance for community leaders and businesses to make a donation and get a naming opportunity for a family room, patient suite, office, patio or other areas.
Halifax Health – Hospice is a nonprofit organization and all money goes into the hospice programs. Patient care is normally paid by Medicare or other insurance, but the organization cites several uncompensated costs, such as care for the uninsured, bereavement support and caregiver assistance programs.
Hospice care is for those who have been diagnosed by a physician as having a life-limiting illness. Halifax Health – Hospice provides in-home care for patients, and the care centers are for those who can no longer remain at home. The facility is expected to take patients late next year, and will provide medical staff, spiritual support and volunteers.
The $6 million, 18,000-square-foot facility on four acres reflects the architecture of the old Hotel Ormond, the historic hotel that stood at the corner of John Anderson Drive and East Granada Boulevard before being demolished in the early 1990s.
“It’s beautiful,” said Jeff Feasal, Halifax Health president, about the new facility.
“The concept of the Ormond Hotel is extremely well-received by the community,” he said.
Ann Martorano, chief operating officer, said the facility has been planned for a long time.
“It’s a need for the community,” she said.
Halifax Health – Hospice has care centers in Port Orange, Orange City and Edgewater. The new 12-suite facility will serve those in Ormond Beach as well as Flagler County.
Fran Davis, executive director of Halifax Health - Hospice, said small care centers are constructed throughout the service area, rather than having a large, central facility, to accommodate family members who visit the patients.
Also, they are seeking a comfortable environment for the patient.
“It’s very important they feel at home,” she said.
Each suite has a patio that will face a landscaped area with a gazebo, walkways, butterfly garden, labyrinth, etc. Davis said the family can take the patient out in the area in a wheelchair. The suites are large enough for family to visit and even spend the night in pullout beds.
While Medicare requires that end-of-life care centers be homelike rather than “institutional,” Davis said it’s the best environment for hospice patient care and it’s the right thing to do.
“Ninety percent of people say they want to die at home,” she said. She also said relatives of a hospice patient sometimes feel badly if a family member can’t stay at home, and feel better when they see the homelike facility.
When complete, the facility will provide about 40 permanent, professional jobs, according to company literature.
