About the Residence

Joe Raso Hospice Residence-COMING SOON-Expected opening March 2012!

Watch our construction progress by viewing our Facebook photo album. Photos are posted often.

Since 1988, United Hospice of Rockland has cared for thousands of our neighbors in Rockland and lower Orange Counties, providing the essential care and services that enable those who are seriously ill to remain in their own homes, and offering them comfort, dignity and control over the important decisions that impact their end-of-life care.

However, for our seriously ill loved ones, friends and neighbors who:

• live alone, with no support system in place to complement Hospice’s program of care;
• live with an elderly or infirmed partner whose own condition prevents them from being able to provide adequate care or support;
• come from institutional settings or return from having spent time outside the community, who have no home to which they can return; or
• have families who are fearful of caring for their loved ones at home during their final phases of life.

The options currently available in our community have been limited. UHR's answer to this considerable gap in services available to people in our community was to build the JRHR. The JRHR which will offer a residential environment, together with the full complement of Hospice’s comfort-oriented care and services including expert pain and symptom management, nursing care, assistance with the tasks of daily living (feeding, bathing, etc.), friendly visiting by volunteers, spiritual and psycho-social counseling for patients and their loved ones, and bereavement counseling and support groups for surviving family members.

The JRHR, consisting of approximately 10,000 square feet, is situated on 11 beautiful acres in New City, amidst a peaceful setting of streams, woodlands, wildlife, and a pond.

• for family meetings and gatherings as well as prayer, meditation and contemplation.
• Specially-designed bathroom facilities including a special "wheel-in" bathtub, radiant heat and other similar amenities.
• Flexible dining options tailored to meet the special needs of residents
• Eight to ten private, spacious suites, offering space for visiting family members and convertible furniture for overnight stays. Family members may come and go as they wish.
• A "great room," where residents and family members can gather to visit, read, watch television, play a game, or listen to music.
• Private areas for patients and families to gather
• Life-enhancing therapies, such as music, pet, massage and horticultural.
• Special outdoor spaces, including gardens, paths and a patio that will accommodate wheelchairs and beds.

The existence of a Hospice Home will benefit our community in the following ways:

• For the first time in Rockland County, families caring for a seriously ill loved one will have the additional option of residential end-of-life care in our community.
• Seriously ill individuals who cannot – or do not wish to – remain at home will be able to access residential end-of-life care without having to leave the community and distance themselves from their local support system of family, friends, neighbors, physicians and clergy.
• Family members will no longer have to juggle work and home responsibilities in ordRRer make time to visit their seriously ill loved one in a residential facility in Westchester or New York City.
• Seriously ill individuals who choose to live at the Hospice Home will be able to spend their final days, weeks or months in comfort, with control over their environment and the decisions about their care and with dignity.

We invite and welcome contributions of any amount to support the JRHR. UHR is especially pleased to offer a selection of naming opportunities in gratitude for gifts in the five and six figure range. Naming opportunities allow donors to permanently honor or remember a special person (or people) in their lives.

Recently, many people have asked us if they can purchase an item that is needed for the residence. We have made that possible by creating a virtual housewarming by registering at Bed Bath & Beyond. You can go to www.bedbathandbeyond.com, gift registry (registry #6073330), listed under Amy Stern. Anything you select to purchase will be used by patients, families or staff.

New -- the Jeffrey David Walerstein Walk of Honor -- purchase a brick today.

For more information about investing in the JRHR, please contact Lanie Etkind, Director of Development at letkind@hospiceofrockland.org or 845.634.4974.