Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 14, to celebrate the grand opening of the Marilyn B. and Mark E. Gustafson Center for Supportive Care on the Wooster campus of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare (1900 Akron Rd., Wooster, Ohio 44691).

The ribbon cutting ceremony 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.

“For the past 40 years, we have had the honor and privilege to care for those in our community as they face a life-limiting illness or injury,” said Kurt Holmes, executive director of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare. “As we grow to meet the needs of the communities we serve throughout northeast Ohio, the Marilyn B. and Mark E. Gustafson Center for Supportive Care allows us to continue to provide world-class care 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 160 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.

Katherine Ritchie, development director of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, thanked members of the community who supported the $2.5 million campaign.

“As we grow to meet the needs of the communities we are honored and privileged to serve throughout northeast Ohio, Marilyn and Mark’s gift and the donations from others throughout the community allows Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare to expand our services to our patients and families, as well as members of the community,” Ritchie said.

Holmes thanked Bogner Corporation and the many contractors who made the transformation of the building complete. “We appreciate their expertise and talents as they worked diligently over the past year to repurpose this building, creating a state-of-the-art center,” Holmes said. “We look forward to sharing this building with the community as we continue to celebrate our 40th anniversary of serving the community.”

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.