Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare is inviting the community to its community open house to tour the newly opened Marilyn B. and Mark E. Gustafson Center for Supportive Care on Wednesday, July 20, 4-6 pm, on the Wooster campus of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare (1900 Akron Rd., Wooster, Ohio 44691).
 
The opening of the center is the culmination of a $2.5 million campaign launched in March 2021 to establish the Marilyn B. and Mark E. Gustafson Center for Supportive Care. The center was named after Marilyn and Mark Gustafson, volunteers and donors with Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare. 
 
The not-for-profit hospice repurposed an existing building on the Akron Road campus in Wooster to expand its Volunteer Services, the Pathways of Hope^SM Grief Counseling Center, and the Mobile Care Unit transportation hub service and support. Bogner Corporation and many local contractors made the transformation complete.
 
“Since 1982, we have been honored and privileged to care for those in our community facing a life-limiting illness or injury,” said Kurt Holmes, executive director of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare. “The opening of the Marilyn B. and Mark E. Gustafson Center for Supportive Care allows us to continue to provide superior care and superior services to our patients and families.”
 
The center will provide more individual and group counseling rooms for the Pathways of Hope program, a large gathering space for training and seminars for volunteers and the community, and space for the Mobile Care Unit transportation hub service and support.
 

• Through Pathways of Hope, Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare provides bereavement services free of charge to the community, not just those whose family members have been patients of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare. Through support groups, bereavement workshops, and Camp Waves of Emotion, a grief camp for children ages 7-12 who have lost a loved one, Pathways of Hope is available to meet the needs of the community.

• Volunteers play a vital role in the care of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare’s patients and families. They support the care team in direct patient care, including caregiver respite, medication and supply delivery, patient visits, music therapy, animal-assisted therapy, Veteran support, administration support, grounds maintenance, and more. More than 200 volunteers support the mission of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, providing critical support.

• Hospice patients often need to be transported between settings in order to receive care. This may be from home to the hospice inpatient pavilion, from the hospital to a nursing facility, or to and from a doctor’s appointment. As Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare continues to serve an increasing number of patients in the surrounding communities, the need for patient transportation will increase. The new transportation hub in the center will allow for growth of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare’s Mobile Care Unit team and provide space for additional vehicles.

Light refreshments will be served at the community open house. No RSVP is necessary. For more information, please contact Katherine Ritchie at KRitchie@LifeCareHospice.org or call 330.264.4899.

Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, a not-for-profit organization established in 1982, is an affiliate of Ohio’s Hospice that serves communities in northeast Ohio. It embodies the spirit of neighbors caring for neighbors with a commitment to relieve suffering, ease fears, and provide companionship along life’s last journey. Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare addresses patient and family needs wherever the patient calls home. Services also include access to the Stanley C. and Flo K. Gault Inpatient Pavilion, providing short-term patient care to manage acute symptoms, adjust medications, or stabilize patient condition.