Second hospice home in state holds open house

The second hospice home in Idaho is opening in Ammon through the Hospice of Eastern Idaho.This hospice home has been a long time coming. Hospice of Eastern Idaho has been in the area for 30 years. Over that time, it’s officials have been working to create a hospice home and Wednesday they were able to cut that ribbon.

Dawn Williams, a hospice nurse, said, “This has been a long time coming, we’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

The new Hospice Home of Eastern Idaho was full of supporters for their grand opening Wednesday morning.

Celeste Eld, the executive director or Hospice of Eastern Idaho, said, “It just shows how much the community supported it, and how needed it is, and how people’s lives have been touched with hospice for years.”

The hospice home is a temporary place for patient care, not permanent like a nursing home.

“Having an in patient unit like we are having here allows patients who are near the end of their life that maybe don’t have caregivers that at that time in their life don’t want to move into an assisted living or a nursing home,” Eld said.

Dr. Scott Taylor, the medical director, said, “It’s a pleasure to be able to give somebody the opportunity to pass away in a humane and dignified way and location.”

Donations and sponsors have made this new facility possible. Each room has been adopted for or in memory of someone. Pete and Virginia Planchon have adopted a room in memory of a fellow Hospice of Eastern Idaho board member.

“We’ve had very good friends that have received end-of-life care from hospice so we’ve been able to observe firsthand how important it is,” Pete Planchon said.

Hospice of Eastern Idaho leaders say they are eager to open their doors and provide care for this community.

“It’s allowed us to be able to open the facility and then we can provide the care that we know how to do, in the way we want to do it,” Eld said.

The hospice home will start taking patients in September.

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