Hospice Hale Slated to Begin Construction in January

Carrie Anne Campos, Hospice Maui’s Office Manager and granddaughter of Hospice Patient celebrates generosity of the Maui Community.  Courtesy photo.

By Wendy Osher

Hospice Maui plans to break ground on a hospice home for in-patient care at its current site in Wailuku in January, the agency said.

The in-patient service is an expansion upon the organization’s 30-years of Maui-based in-home service for hospice patients on the island.

Efforts to build the 5-bedroom Hospice Hale, are made possible in part through a $25,000 challenge grant from Lloyd and Barbara Amundson.

In just four months, agency officials say Maui residents were able to raise the matching funds before the challenge end date in December, bringing the total project donation to $50,000.

“We are humbled by the continued and generous support of the Maui community and we extend our deepest gratitude to all who share in our vision,” said Hospice Maui CEO Dr. Greg LaGoy.

The news comes as a separate non-profit organization, Islands Hospice, announced plans for in-patient service on Maui as well.

Hospice Maui, photo by Wendy Osher.

Dr. LaGoy commented in a press release saying, “the news of another company intending to start hospice service on Maui does not change Hospice Maui’s plans to build our Hospice Hale and we will continue to adapt to meet our community’s growing need for hospice services.”

He continued saying, “Health care has always been, and continues to be an ever-changing landscape. We have always adapted, and we will continue to adapt to those changes.”

Dr. Nancy Long, medical director of Hospice Maui also commented, “meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the person who is ill” will not change.

Organization officials say that since 1981, Hospice Maui has been the sole provider of hospice care on the island.

Located at the top of Mahalani Street, near the Maui Memorial Medical Center, organization officials say Hospice Maui provides compassionate care to help ease the physical, emotional, and spiritual pain associated with illness.

The team at Hospice Maui includes nurses, social workers, spiritual counselors, home health aides, physicians, and volunteers.