Regional Hospice and Home Care cut the ribbon this week on their new facility in Danbury.  State Senator Mike McLachlan read an official citation from the General Assembly, introduced by the Danbury delegation, congratulating the Center for Comfort Care and Healing in recognition of the opening.

Regional Hospice has been serving the area since 1983 with bereavement support and end of life care.  The organization served 500 patients and their loved ones in 2014.  1,200 people took part of their free bereavement programs last year.

Former Brookfield State Representative David Scribner, who also served on the Board of Directors for Regional Hospice said it was a long road to this opening.  The construction of the Center was funded entirely by donations and grants to cover the approximately $12 million cost.  They expect patients will come to the new hospice center from a 50-mile radius surrounding Danbury. 

Mayor Mark Boughton says the staff do more than just a job, they get up every day with a smile and make people comfortable.  He called them angels of mercy who people face at the worst moments of their lives--whether it's with a dying loved one or as a patient.  Danbury is providing free sewer service to the facility.  A cost of about 5-thousand dollars a year that the Center will not have to budget for.

The all-private suite facility has a palliative-care trained medical director, physicians and APRN’s are available 24/7.  The Center for Comfort Care and Healing will also house the Healing Hearts Center for Grief & Loss, a program of Regional Hospice that provides grief support services to the community at no charge, bringing all of Regional Hospice’s programs and services under one roof for the first time.