Ground broken for new Hospice of Wichita Falls inpatient care center

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (TNN) - Dirt was turned Tuesday morning on Cypress Avenue. The site where the new Hospice of Wichita Falls Inpatient Care Center will be built.

"We are over the moon excited about the success of our efforts over the last year in a half," said Jake Truette, the director of development for Hospice of Wichita Falls.

The project was first announced in February during a press conference where officials explained the importance of expanding and updating their main campus.

“For the last several years, we were having to turn people away that wanted to be in the inpatient center {because} we simply didn’t have a bed for them, so this will enable us to take care of more people,” said Alisa Echols, the executive director of Hospice of Wichita Falls.

Shana Vordenbaum, a campaign co-chair, knows the feeling of having a loved one turned away, so for her getting this done meant a lot to her.

“We were so shocked that it was full,” said Vordenbaum. “I think he {a friend} lasted about two days and then we got the call that they got a room, so he lasted 6 hours when we got here {Hospice of Wichita Falls}.”

The new inpatient care center will be around 38,000 sq ft and will include multiple family areas, a chapel, offices and a meeting space, a commercial-grade kitchen, a dining area, and 24 large inpatient suites.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” said Sheila Reynolds, a campaign co-chair. “It’s exciting that we met our goal so quickly.”

At the main campus, many changes will be made as well starting with the expansion of the homecare and social services area, plus a palliative care clinic will take over the current inpatient center.

Even though they reached their goal for the project, the nonprofit is still accepting donations for the sustainability of the new center.

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