VITAS Healthcare Opens Doors to Second Hospice Inpatient Unit in Georgia at New Hope Medical Center

10/16/2015

DULUTH, GA. – October 16, 2015 – VITAS Healthcare, the nation's leading provider of end-of-life care, celebrated the grand opening of its newest VITAS Inpatient Unit (IPU) in Gwinnett County, Georgia with an official ribbon cutting ceremony on October 14, 2015.

Located at New Hope Medical Center, 3840 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Suite 101, Duluth, GA 30096, the facility is the company’s second IPU in Georgia and the celebration was attended by VITAS and Duluth Chamber of Commerce executives, health care professionals, and staff members as well as business and community leaders, including Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris.

The spacious 13,000 square-foot, 12-bed VITAS hospice inpatient unit is designed to meet the Duluth community’s expanding need for high quality end-of-life care for terminally ill patients with complex symptoms. Inpatient hospice units enable VITAS to provide care for hospice patients whose symptoms have become unmanageable in their home-care settings. Most patients return home after spending a few days in the units.

“In Georgia, VITAS currently serves 24 counties from Lumpkin to Meriwether and is proud to open the IPU at New Hope Medical Center to meet the demand for quality, compassionate end-of-life care for terminally ill patients in Gwinnett County,” said VITAS Vice President of Operations Jennifer Nygaard. “This facility will provide local VITAS patients who need more intense levels of care easier access to our services in a comfortable, home-like setting.”

At the unit, VITAS’ interdisciplinary teams of skilled physicians, nurses, hospice aides, social workers, chaplains, volunteers and bereavement support staff members attend to the medical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of patients and their families. The new IPU at New Hope Medical Center, with state-of-the-art equipment, will provide amenities including a kitchen and dining room; family room and children’s play room; and a quiet room for meditation, all of which are designed to feel like home. The facility, which will employ at least 30 hospice caregivers, can accept 24-hour direct admissions and high-acuity patients.

VITAS currently operates 34 IPUs nationwide, most of which are located on hospital campuses. For more information on VITAS locations, visit our locations page.

The group posing with the ceremonial scissors and ribbon from the ribbon-cutting

From left to right, VITAS General Manager Mark Hayes, Duluth Chamber of Commerce Membership Development Manager Sandy Richardson, Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris, VITAS Director of Community Affairs Diane Deese and Duluth City Council Members Jim Dugan and Kelly Kelkenberg.

The group standing in front of a balloon arch over the main entrance

The VITAS Healthcare management team in Duluth, Georgia welcomes all patients in need of more intense levels of care to its hospice inpatient unit at New Hope Medical Center in Gwinnett County and accepts 24-hour direct admissions and high-acuity patients.

Looking up the driveway at the building's exterior

VITAS Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of end-of-life care, opens its second hospice inpatient unit in Duluth, Georgia at New Hope Medical Center to provide easier access to hospice services for residents living in Gwinnett County.

A bed in a patient room

VITAS Healthcare’s newest hospice inpatient unit in Duluth, with state-of-the-art equipment, is designed to feel like home and includes amenities including a kitchen and dining room, family room and a quiet room for meditation. The unit is accepting 24-hour direct admissions.

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