The North Shore could soon be home to Cook County’s new freestanding inpatient hospice center.
Executive staff members at Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter in Glenview are hoping to open the doors of the new $12 million Marshak Family Inpatient Pavilion by early 2012.
“Our region is long overdue for a facility like this,” says Craig Dresang, vice president of community development at the Midwest CareCenter. “With all of the baby boomers who are on the horizon who have not yet started to turn Medicare age, the need for this kind of facility is just going to grow exponentially in the coming years.”
The 20,000-square foot pavilion will be built on the third floor of the Midwest CareCenter’s current headquarters, overlooking the Techny Basin at 2050 Claire Court in Glenview.
The green facility will feature 16 patient suites, additional family rooms, conference and meditation areas and a library.
The $1 million Waud Family Healing Garden, an outdoor space where patients and families can relax or receive counseling, will surround the pavilion. That project is being funded separately from the pavilion.
Construction will begin once at least 80 percent of the price tag has been pledged, Dresang says. In the last 10 months, donors have contributed about $4.3 million to the project, he says.
The capital campaign received an early boost from the Marshak family, who made the lead contribution.
“I’m doing it to provide these services for other people who need it,” says Karen Marshak of Glencoe, whose late husband Gary was a Midwest CareCenter patient before he died in 2001 at age 46. “When you’re in this position, your whole world stops.”
“What a privilege it is for a patient’s family to say thanks in this way,” says Dr. Martha Twaddle, the Midwest CareCenter’s chief medical officer, of Marshak’s donation.
“What it does is it allows us to care for more patients and more families in a specialized setting.”
Interested in donating? Visit the Midwest CareCenter’s website, or call Craig Dresang, vice president of community development, at 847-556-1528.
