Hospice East Campaign

St. Francis introduced hospice care to Hawaii as a home care and specially designed in-hospital service in 1978. A decade later, following a $2.5 million campaign, St. Francis opened Hawaii’s first freestanding hospice facility, The Sister Maureen Keleher Center, in Nuuanu with 12 beds for respite and short-term admissions. As acceptance of the hospice concept grew, the need for another facility became evident. With support from donors to a $5 million capital campaign, St. Francis responded by opening the 24-bed Maurice J. Sullivan Family Hospice Center in West Oahu in 1997.

Since its founding in 1978, the St. Francis Hospice program has served more than 13,000 patients in the home setting and in hospice facilities. The need for hospice services continues to grow, and inpatient hospice care is exceeding the combined capacity of both hospice centers.

To meet current and future needs, St. Francis is proposing to construct a 24-bed hospice center in East Oahu to provide services for some 50,000 residents living in the communities from Kahala to Hawaii Kai. Studies show that about 20 percent of all patients waiting for hospice admission and placement live in East Oahu.

Similar to the two existing centers, the proposed inpatient, single-story hospice facility will be as homelike as possible. Rooms are being designed so family members may spend the night and remain with loved ones in their final days. Preliminary architectural plans include quiet areas and meditation garden settings. The hospice center in East Oahu also will improve St. Francis Hospice clinical staff’s accessibility to patients in the area, allowing more time for direct, hands-on interaction with patients and their families in their own homes.

The Vision – Hospice East campaign goal is $5 million. For more information on the hospice campaign,
call (808) 547-8030.