Pathways Hospice launches $8M capital campaign for new building

FORT COLLINS — Pathways Hospice kicked off a campaign last week to raise $8 million to build its own 12-bed care center in southern Fort Collins as it prepares for an increase in demand for hospice care in the coming decades.

Pathways president Nate Lamkin said the hospice provider is raising the funds alongside design and construction of the new building near its headquarters at 305 Carpenter Road near the Fort Collins-Loveland municipal boundary.

Lamkin said there is current demand for 14 intensive inpatient beds between Larimer and Weld counties based on available Medicare data, and the new building has room for an additional six beds if needed in the future.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Federal District Court Rules Corporate Transparency Act Unconstitutional . . . But Most Small Businesses Must Still Comply

Lyons Gaddis Real Estate and Business Attorney Cameron Grant shares important details of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).

“We don’t know when that’ll be,” he said, referring to when the hospice provider could add those beds. “That could be two years from now, it could be 10 years from now. But we’re designing the space and laying it out on the site in such a way that we could expand if needed.”

State demographers expect Larimer County’s population of people above the age of 65 to grow by about 140 percent over the next 20 years as Northern Colorado’s population swells. 

Pathways currently leases six beds in Loveland’s McKee Medical Center, but primarily operates as caregivers to patients within other hospitals and at their homes a few times per week. The dedicated beds are for patients who need near-constant care to manage intense pain and other symptoms at the end of their lives.

Lamkin also said the center can care for patients if their primary caregiver or family member needs to take a few days off.

“If the caregiver is exhausted, sick, has an emergency and has to go out of town for a few days, we can take care of their loved one in the care center,” he said.

Pathways has already retained an engineer and architect for the project and plans to request bids for construction next month. It plans to break ground this year.