State's largest in-patient hospice set to open

      An in-patient hospice facility slated to open next month will be the state's largest and one of the biggest in the nation, according to its officials.
      Fred Schultz, executive director of Safe Harbor Hospice Inc., 3910 Pecos McCleod, said the 26,000-square-foot, 24-bed facility will not only be Nevada's largest in-patient care service but also will raise the bar for treating terminally-ill patients -- defined as those with six months or less to live.
      Schultz said the facility's 24 beds will be the most in the state, eight more than in the Nathan Adelson Hospice, the city's other hospice with in-patient care. There are 12 hospices in the state, none of which are hospital-based. He said hospices nationwide average 13 beds.
      Current patients get first dibs when the facility opens in mid-February, Schultz said. He said there is no base price for monthly services since Medicare or private insurance cover disease-related treatment. Anything outside of treatment is an extra expense, he said.
      Patients can obtain day care or stay up to six months, but must justify to their healthcare providers any extended stay, Schultz said.
      Upscale in design, the 4011 McCleod Drive facility will have home-like comforts -- private rooms, den, lounge, kitchen, backyard and a space for pets to roam.
      "We wanted to make it feel as much like home as possible," said Judy Peters, community education and volunteer services coordinator for the hospice.
      Peters trains the volunteer caregivers who serve as friends and confidantes to the patients and families. The 33 hours of training includes an overview of hospice care, learning bereavement techniques, gaining coping and stress relief skills and getting indoctrinated into Safe Harbor's team-care concept.
      Patients also have what Peters called "alternative therapies" at their disposal. These include playing with pets, listening to music, watching fish in an aquarium and viewing murals.
      When someone dies, Peters said Safe Harbors has a 13-month bereavement component where caregivers make calls, home visits and send cards.
      "We're taking a holistic approach to health by focusing on quality-of-life issues," Peters said.
      Schultz credits the extensive program to Safe Harbor's parent company, Dallas-based Odyssey HealthCare. Since Odyssey specializes in in-patient care, he said, "We have higher standards than anyone. We define our customers needs by what they want. The patients and the families come first. We don't allow anyone to remain in pain."
      The new in-patient service plugs a small hole in Las Vegas' growing patient-to-bed gap, he said.
      Kristy Thompson, Odyssey's regional director of clinical affairs, said the company's goal is to have the terminally ill die at home or in a home-like environment with family and friends.
      She said plans are in the works for a campaign to educate doctors and the large numbers of terminally ill who qualify for the care about the new facility will significantly add to the 20 percent of people Schultz says qualify for and take advantage of hospice care.
      "A lot of people in Las Vegas don't have caregivers or family here or people need to find a place other than a nursing home to place their loved ones until they die," she said. "We like to say Safe Harbor is not a place to die, but a place to live until you die."