Hospice of Southern Maine, in Scarborough, broke ground on a $5.75 million, 14,550-square-foot building that will support the nonprofit hospice’s growing home-based services.
The building, at 390 U.S. Route 1, will serve as a base and dispatch center for 120 nurses, social workers and other staff who currently work out of two leased buildings, according to a news release. The clinical teams visit about 200 patients a day in their homes, up from 130 patients daily three years ago.
The home hospice hub will also include community rooms for grief counseling, education and special events, as well as a simulation lab for training staff.
Hospice of Southern Maine provides end-of-life care for more than 1,600 patients annually, whether at the patient’s home, another care facility, or at HSM’s Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, an 18-bed inpatient facility in Scarborough.
“This new home hospice center will advance Hospice of Southern Maine’s mission of helping to ensure that life’s journey ends among caring family and close friends,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who attended the groundbreaking on Thursday. “Personal experience has shaped my support for hospice care.”
To finance construction, Hospice of Southern Maine has launched a $5.6 million capital campaign, and has raised $4.5 million toward that goal, according to the release.
