News

Colchester, VT – UVM Health Network – Home Health & Hospice of Chittenden & Grand Isle Counties has gained approval from the State of Vermont Green Mountain Care Board to build a new 21-bed Respite House in Colchester, which will replace its 13-bed facility currently located in Williston.

McClure Miller Respite House is the only Medicare-certified hospice home in the state. The UVM Health Network – Home Health & Hospice determined its current facility, which was built 25 years ago, is too small and no longer ideally suited for the provision of inpatient hospice care for the residents and families the UVM Health Network – Home Health & Hospice serves.

Following a rigorous population-based analysis, the UVM Health Network – Home Health & Hospice concluded a 21-bed facility is necessary to meet community needs. The need for inpatient hospice services is expected to increase as the population ages and more people choose hospice services at the end of life. Over the past 10 years, the number of individuals seeking hospice services in the community increased by over 50%, with McClure Miller Respite House experiencing a 46% increase.

The Green Mountain Care Board approved UVM Health Network – Home Health & Hospice’s Certificate of Need for the new Respite House on September 21, 2015. Construction will begin this fall, and the project is expected to be completed by the end of summer 2016.

In addition to increasing capacity from 13 to 21 beds, the new Respite House will include larger resident rooms, each with a private bathroom, shower, and space for family to stay overnight, enhanced work and meeting space for staff and volunteers, and improved kitchen and family gathering spaces. The facility can also accommodate expansion if additional resident rooms are needed in the future.

“McClure Miller Respite House has been a home-away-from-home to people with terminal illness for nearly a quarter of a century,” said UVM Health Network – Home Health & Hospice President Judy Peterson. “In that time, we’ve seen the need for residential hospice services grow along with an aging population and heightened awareness of the benefits of hospice care. The new Respite House will allow us to respond to this increasing demand.”

Hospice is about enhancing life and living to the fullest potential, using an approach to care that considers physical, emotional and spiritual needs. McClure Miller Respite House provides hospice care to individuals whose illness and health care needs make it too difficult to remain in their own homes or other settings. An inpatient hospice home such as the Respite House provides an alternative to nursing home or hospital care.