Ground Breaking for House of the Dove

Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital and Ministry Home Care recently held a ground breaking “bulldozing barbeque” at the new House of the Dove site located at the intersection of Schmidt Avenue and W. Eleventh Street, in Marshfield. This location is the future home of a state-of-the-art facility for end-of-life care, which is currently located at 613 Western Street.

Click here to see a rendering of the future House of the Dove.

The hospital started raising money for the $4.5 million project in 2008 and to date $4.0 million has been given to the project.
For 20 years, the remodeled convent for the Sisters has provided hospice care to those facing a terminal illness and unable to stay in their own home. “Excellent care, first by the Sisters and now by Ministry Home Care, is the critical piece and has always been provided at the House of the Dove,” stated Michael Kryda, MD, CEO of Ministry Saint Joseph’s Hospital. “The new facility will allow us to expand that care to more patients, including infants and children as well as provide a much broader range of services to include acute care and respite care for hospice patients.”
Here are a few details of the project:

• The new facility will be built on approximately 12 acres of land purchased in 2008, and located on the intersection of Schmidt Avenue and W. Eleventh Street.
• The new House of the Dove will have 12 patient rooms with handicapped-accessible restrooms, expanded family gathering areas, a chapel, large kitchen and dining areas.
• Local contractors and workers are being utilized for the project whenever possible—including the architect, general contractor, heating, electrical, excavation and landscaping. The project has employed a competitive bid process on all significant components of the project.
• The new House of the Dove will be staffed and managed by Ministry Home Care. Ministry Saint Joseph’s will own the building and Marshfield Clinic palliative medicine physicians will round at the facility.
• Anticipated completion date is April 2011.

Hospice Services and House of the Dove are mission-driven projects of Ministry Health Care. Ministry provides these services because it is the right thing to do for the community – they enhance the quality of the last months of life for people we serve. The community is asked to collaborate on this project and assist with fundraising to build the new facility. Ministry will continue to fund the losses of the new House of the Dove to ensure to continue care for everyone in the community, regardless of ability to pay. The community phase of the campaign will work to raise the remaining funds needed to complete the project.