Cornerstone Hospice is celebrating 30 years of service with a series of open houses in four communities, including The Villages.
An open house for The Villages Hospice House, 601 Casa Bella, near County Road 466 and Morse Boulevard, is scheduled from noon to 6 p.m. June 11. Other open houses will be held in June at Cornerstone’s hospice houses in Clermont, Sumterville and Tavares.
Unlike hospital care, hospice takes a holistic approach to managing symptoms, especially during end-of-life care. While hospitals focus on curing and discharging patients, hospice emphasizes making people comfortable.
“We treat only the symptoms,” said Julia Allen, Cornerstone’s community relations manager. She said the treatment team includes bereavement and psychological counselors, nurses and other professionals.
Allen said hospice is the last stop for many people, although some return home if their symptoms can be managed.
Medicare and Medicaid cover the costs of care, but room and board is paid by the patients. Allen said the costs are assessed on a sliding scale and no one is turned away for lack of resources.
Built in 2003, The Villages Hospice House has 12 beds with enough land to add up to 36 more in future wings radiating from a central patio. Allen said number of people staying at the house varies and sometimes it is full.
With seating scattered around a gentle water fountain, the patio offers a peaceful place to rest and reflect. Bricks and benches are engraved with the names of departed loved ones.
On one side of the patio is a serenity room, a small room used for counseling sessions and religious services. Sunlight streams into the room through beautiful stained-glass windows.
Private patient rooms are designed for comfort with recliners and outdoor lanais, where the hospital-style beds can be moved upon request. Oxygen equipment is hidden discreetly behind wall paintings.
But the building is a small part of Cornerstone’s services in the community. Fran Wark, the hospice house manager and a registered nurse, said the house also serves about 70 Villages-area people in their homes.
Allen said Cornerstone relies heavily on its employees and about 1,000 volunteers. It serves six central Florida counties, including Lake, Sumter, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Hardee and Highlands.
Hospices began in England during the 1960s as an alternative to hospital care and the first ones opened in the United States in the mid-1970s. Cornerstone Hospice opened its first house in Tavares in 1984.