Hospice House could reopen with help from community

A year ago, Kristina Wright-Peterson, the executive director of Seasons Hospice in Rochester, was sitting on the shore in Two Harbors when she received an email from a stranger named Pat Buretta.

Her heart sank when she read the message from Buretta, who serves on the board of the Homestead Hospice House in Owatonna. She was reaching out to nonprofits and letting them know about Allina Healthcare pulling out of the hospice residential home.

“My heart just broke,” Peterson said.

At the time, she wasn't thinking about opening another hospice house. Soon, though, the organizations’ boards were meeting for supper at Hubble House in Mantorville. They realized a partnership was possible.

There’s just one last check mark to complete before Seasons Hospice can begin operating the Owatonna facility: raising $350,000, with another half million dollars in pledged donations by Dec. 1.

Truly nonprofit

Peterson explained there are two ways someone can receive hospice care.

Services can be provided in someone’s home, whether it's their residence, a nursing home, group home, or “wherever that person calls home,” she said.

Another option is the residential hospice house. Seasons operates one of just 13 in the state.

“Those have 24 hours nursing care,” Peterson said.

A couple of decades ago, the Owatonna community raised the necessary funds to build the Homestead Hospice House. The nonprofit board served as the landlord, with Allina Healthcare running it until last year.

The dilemma, Peterson explained, is that insurance doesn’t pay the full cost for care in a residential hospice setting, so it requires community support to run.

“Medicare does not pay for patients to stay in residential hospice houses, so they do not have a funding source outside of private room and board, and private room and board doesn’t cover all of the expenses,” she said.

Previously, Buretta explained, Allina suffered a financial loss running the home, which was absorbed as part of its larger company. Owatonna Hospital, which is part of Allina, would help provide some funding, and for years, the board of directors would return the rent collected for the home back to Allina.

Still, Allina often talked about cutting its losses and pulling out of the Owatonna facility.

Buretta said the Homestead Hospice board got to work right after Allina left to look at different options and see whether anyone was willing to take over.

For the past year, the closest option for people in Steele County has been Rochester or the Twin Cities.

As Buretta put it, the loss of the home doesn't just impact those who are dying.

Before joining the board, she served as Homestead Hospice manager and learned “the scope of care we can provide for hospice services to not only the patient but to the family, in supporting them through that very sacred time is critical in their ability to cope and grieve healthy and to return to the community as healthy people.”

Now or never

Since residential hospice homes lose money each year, Peterson made clear, despite the shared beliefs and interest of bringing services to Owatonna, the community needs to raise funds.

Both the Homestead Hospice House and Seasons Hospice have opened restricted accounts to hold any funds donated between now and Dec. 1, toward the opening of the hospice house,” a joint press release read. “Our goal is to raise all of the opening funds necessary and secure commitments for the $500,000 needed in the first 12 months of operations.”

Peterson explained the first goal will be to raise $350,000 for start-up costs, including equipment, technology, and staff onboarding.

The other goal, $500,000 in pledged support, would cover one year of the community’s financial contribution for continued operations.

“That means every single year, we will be raising $500,000 to keep the house open,” Peterson said.

She explained the pledged support is important for continuity.

“We don’t want to come into the community and then leave,” Peterson said.

Alternatives

Peterson didn’t mince words. If funds aren’t secured, then Seasons will not move forward.

“If we’re not successful by Dec. 1, then Seasons will do the Minnesota polite thing and step to the side,” she said.

In that case, Peterson explained, funds received will be returned or used, based on the wishes of the donors.

Homestead Hospice House board member Kasey Kamholz explained the organization also has restrictive accounts and said options include trying to find an alternative medical use. The land was donated to Mayo years ago.

“We're sitting (in) an area that is designated for health care,” he said.

Another option would be for the board to run the house independently, hiring an executive director to oversee it.

Taking over the hospice care themselves, Kamholz said, would require a significant effort.

“That would take a huge amount of fundraising,” he said.

Then, there's the last resort: sell the building and five acres of land to the highest bidder and donate the funds to the Owatonna Foundation.

In the coming weeks, there will be “lunch and learn” events at Homestead Hospice House. The first one will take place on Sept.10; others are planned Oct. 8 and Nov. 12. All the events will take place from 12 to 1:30 p.m.

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Homestead Hospice House

• “Lunch and Learn” events
• Sept. 10, Oct. 8 and Nov. 12
• 12-1:30 p.m.
• Hospice House at 2350 NW 26^th St., Owatonna