NEWS RELEASE

Cedars Community Hospice to Open New Inpatient Hospice Center

New hospice center will provide residents of Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs and surrounding areas a much-needed end-of-life care option

February 24, 2010 – Monroeville, Pennsylvania – Cedars Community Hospice, a trusted provider of hospice care to families across Western Pennsylvania, will celebrate the grand opening of the new Cedars Hospice Center on March 2, 2010 from 4-6p.m. An inpatient hospice facility located on the Cedars campus in Monroeville, the new Cedars Hospice Center is the only free-standing inpatient hospice center located in Eastern Allegheny County. Invited guests to the center’s grand opening include state and local elected officials, representatives from foundations and area hospitals, family members of former Cedars hospice patients, along with volunteers, supporters and staff of Cedars Community Hospice.

The Cedars Hospice Center will deliver specialized care to support and fulfill the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of hospice patients and their loved ones. It features a number of unique amenities and settings designed to promote family togetherness and support, including overnight accommodations for family members and kitchen and dining areas where families can prepare and share meals together.

“This opening is very special,” said Barbara Schneck, president of Cedars Community Hospice. “It is the realization of our founder’s vision, Robert Purcell, to provide hospice patients a beautiful and respecting place where they and their families could spend their final time together. All of us involved in making that vision a reality are so proud of the center’s mission and its physical beauty. We know that it will offer patients who are no longer able to receive hospice care at home, and their family members, with a much-needed and cherished end-of-life care option. We are honored to celebrate the Cedars Hospice Center’s opening with our friends and supporters.”

The new Cedars Hospice Center is the only green-certified building in Monroeville. It was constructed with energy conserving and sustainable materials and technologies throughout, from bamboo floors to reflective tile roofing. The nearly $9 million, three-story facility will provide 24-hour care, seven days a week. Features of the new center include:

• Sixteen oversized patient rooms, each with in-room overnight accommodations for family members and walk-out balconies to view the center’s gardens
• Private overnight accommodations for family members
• Family Lounges, Media Rooms, Children’s Playroom
• Non-denominational Chapel
• Kitchen and Dining Areas for Family Meals
• Spa facilities for patients and family members
• Community Room
• Gardens and Walking Paths
• Two story water feature
• Free parking and Wi-Fi

The Cedars Hospice Center will be open to patients in late March 2010. To arrange for care at the facility, please call 412-380-9500. Phones are answered 24 hours a day. Or, for more information, visit www.cedarscommunityhospice.com.

About Cedars Community Hospice

Cedars Community Hospice is a nonprofit organization that provides end-of-life care focused on patients and families, not disease. With a care philosophy that aims to promote quality of life, Cedars Community Hospice delivers in-home hospice care throughout Western Pennsylvania and inpatient hospice care at its new Cedars Hospice Center located in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.

Cedars Community Hospice is part of the Cedars Family of Services, which includes The Cedars of Monroeville, Cedars Community Care Network and Cedars Home Health Care, which together offer a wide range of health care options to help individuals live comfortably and with dignity in the setting that best meets their physical, emotional or spiritual needs.

For more information on Cedars Community Hospice, including how to volunteer or financially support its charitable operations, please call 412-380-9500 or visit www.cedarscommunityhospice.com.

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Press Contact:
Kathleen Hondru
KLH Communications
Ph: 412-337-9316
khondru@klhcommunications.com