A hospice care facility in North Carolina has received state approval to expand into another county to provide assistance to terminally-ill patients.
With the approval in hand, Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter will now focus on raising approximately $3.5 million to build the proposed seven-bed hospice in Brunswick County, StarNewsOnline.com reports.
Barbara VanSlyke, spokeswoman for Lower Cape Fear, told the news provider the fundraising goal was for construction of the new building.
Currently, the residents of Brunswick County have received hospice care at other facilities in neighboring counties, during hospital stays or through in-home care, according to the article.
The number of days of hospice care residents received experienced a significant increase, from 5,427 in 2000 to approximately 23,802 in 2006.
Once the new facility is opened in 2012, it is estimated Lower Cape Fear will serve about 158 patients and increase to at least 172 the following year, states StarNewsOnline.com. The facility appears to be coming at a good time with the elderly population projected to be 21 percent of the population by the time the hospice care building opens.
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