Commonwealth Health Foundation, the philanthropic division of Commonwealth Health Corp., has announced the start of a public capital campaign to build a “home away from home” for the families of seriously ill patients at The Medical Center and Commonwealth Regional Specialty Hospital.
“Many of us have been waiting for this for a long time. It will be a benefit for residents in surrounding counties,” Doris Thomas, marketing and development vice president for Commonwealth Health Corp., said during the announcement today at the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. “Bowling Green has become the regional hub for health care. Nearly half of our patients reside outside Warren County.”
Funds raised from the “Extending Home” campaign will help build, furnish and staff the 13,564-square-foot Hospitality House, which will be located on The Medical Center campus at High Street and Fifth Avenue. The building will include 12 private guest rooms and baths, a kitchen and dining room to accommodate multiple families, a prayer room, a community room with comfortable furnishings, and a business center with computers and Internet access.
“It’s not just a house,” CHF Executive Director Laura Holderfield said. “I truly believe that this is one more piece of the puzzle that makes Bowling Green a caring community.”
So far, CHF has raised $1.7 million in pledges and donations for the campaign. About $2 million is needed to construct and furnish Hospitality House, and an additional $1 million is needed to establish an endowment to ensure ongoing operation.
“This is not a luxury,” said Mike Murphy of Scott, Murphy and Daniel, who is chairman of the capital campaign committee. “It is something that is needed.”
In the past, the hospital has provided vacant patient rooms, but because of patient volume it has not been able to do that for some time, Thomas said. In 2007 and 2008, an average of 8,600 patients from outside Warren County stayed at The Medical Center. The average stay for patients at Commonwealth Regional Specialty Hospital – a long-term acute care hospital located within The Medical Center that treats patients who require specialized, continuing medical care for chronic or complex medical conditions – is 25 days or more.
“I have seen patients’ families asleep in the lobbies. This can go on for several days or several weeks,” she said. “The Hospitality House will be a place to recharge and be close to loved ones.”
Barbara Burch, provost at Western Kentucky University, knows about the need for a Hospitality House. She stayed at one in Nashville for several weeks after her daughter was severely burned in 2006.
“I sat in a waiting room for eight days. I had no idea what it was like to sit all day in a chair,” she said. “If you sit for day after day, it’s hard for you to deal with what’s happening around you. A social worker suggested the Hospitality House.”
Staying at a Hospitality House was a comfort for Burch, she said.
“Whatever you needed was there. It was an amazing comfort and impact that families have on one another,” she said. “It’s more than place. When everything else around you is falling apart, it takes away some of the stresses it takes to survive day to day. It’s something that makes all the difference. I’m grateful to the people who are working to make that happen.”
— For more information, call the Commonwealth Health Foundation at 796-5543 or visit www.hospitalityhousebg.org.
