A hospice located in a place many people have described as a paradise opens today after a five-month renovation.
The St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii has completed its project to upgrade the Nuuanu hospice center, which is the first of a two-phase $3.5 million modernization project, Pacific Business News reports.
Some of the improvements to Nuuanu include a 12-bed inpatient facility, new air-conditioning units, and a new interactive television system, according to the article.
The center also got exterior renovations such as a new roof, window sills, and new security cameras.
St. Francis is also making renovations to its other hospice center, the 24-bed Maurice J Sullivan Family Hospice Center in Eaw, scheduled to be completed in March.
For many patients and their families, hospices can be a welcome place for end-of-life care. In 1982, Congress ordered Medicare to pay for hospice care, allowing more facilities to be built.
A recent study showed that approximately 1.4 million people received hospice care in 2007, an increase of about 100,000 from the year before. There are about 4,700 hospice facilities in the U.S.
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