"It's wonderful," Denise Watson, director of Mountain Valley Hospice and Palliative Care said Thursday. "We are overwhelmed by the response. It has been a great day. We've been looking forward to this for months, years actually, since we started this in 2004."
Once completed in fall of 2008, the Joan and Howard Woltz Hospice Home will be a 22,000 square-foot facility containing 20 patient suites and employing 35.
Located in Dobson next to Central Middle School, with easy access from I-77, U.S. 601 and N.C. 268, the Woltz Hospice Home is designed to create a family-friendly environment for patients and loved ones.
"This is a milestone for Mountain Valley Hospice and for our community," Watson said. "Three years ago when we began researching about a Hospice home we realized we really needed a facility in our community. Today we are proud to say that we will soon have a state of the art facility here in Surry County where we will be able to serve families and meet all their needs at the end of life. The Joan and Howard Woltz Hospice home will meet a compelling health care need in our community. It will be a place that is both welcoming and home like to patients and their families."
Having raised $3 million of the estimated $5 million needed for construction since May 2006, Richard Vaughn, chairman for the facility's capital campaign, challenged those in attendance who had already donated to continue their support.
Vaughn said Thursday, that with a 20-suite facility and the average stay of around a week, the home will have the capability to serve nearly 1,000 patients per year. Mountain Valley Hospice and Palliative Care currently serves a total of 13 counties throughout the region.
The facility will contain two large family rooms, a theater, soda shop, children's playroom, meditation garden, patient salon and spa. Each of the 20 suites will have a personal outdoor patio. The home will not have restricted visitation hours, to encourage family to spend this time together.
Robert Merrit, who was recognized for his work with the capital campaign, spoke concerning the community bond shown when dealing with support for an organization such as Hospice.
"Today's ground breaking celebrates the success of people coming together with a common purpose," Merrit said. "I think it also signifies a realization that we were pulling together when we look at the inevitability of the eventual death of our loved ones and ourselves. With this new Hospice home, the people of our area will be able to face the end of life with confidence, rather than anxiety. Knowing that death with dignity is a possibility."
H. O. Woltz III, son of Joan and Howard Woltz, who spoke on behalf of the family Thursday, said his parents, both long-time residents of Mount Airy, have been involved with the development and support of Hospice since the 1970's.
In 2005 Joan became terminally ill and the Woltz's turned to Hospice for support. Following her death in 2007, the family remains grateful for the care and information they received from Hospice during that time.
"There is no more appropriate recogniztion of our parents than to honor them through the development of a home that will advance the delivery of state of the art Hospice services to local residents for years to come," Woltz III said.
"Its just a tremendous advance in the level of service provided by hospice to the local community," Woltz said. "Having experienced the Hospice services through my mom's illness and eventual death, we know what it means. My parents have known what it meant for a long time, they have participated in the organization and building of Hospice. We know the effectiveness and we know the investment thats made here will raise the level of service enormously."
Watson said the public can expect to see construction activity to begin in the next couple of weeks. "Its going to be about a 9 to 12 month process to build it," Watson said. "We should be operating and serving patients by October 2008."
The previous owners of the property used to build the facility came out to see the ceremony.
"We talked about it and prayed about it and decided that this is what we wanted to do," Debbie Cook, who owned the property with her husband Marty, said.
Odell Jenkins, who has been farming the land for over 50 years said he could not think of a better way to use it, if not for farming.
"I think its a wonderful thing," Jenkins said. "I'd rather see it go to these people than any other thing in North Carolina, any other business."
Contact the Mountain Valley Hospice for more information at www.mtnvalleyhospice.org or call toll free at 1-888-789-2922.
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