Nathan Adelson Hospice to have presence at MountainView Hospital

Hospitals are the setting where lives begin and sometimes end. It's only fitting, said Nathan Adelson Hospice co-founder and board chairman Irwin Molasky, the hospice have a presence on such a campus.

Nathan Adelson Hospice plans to move from its current location at 3391 N. Buffalo Drive to a new, expanded location at the MountainView Medical Office Building, 3150 N. Tenaya Way. The move is slated to be complete by January.

The medical office building is attached to the hospital, but the third floor setting will have a welcoming atmosphere.

"The idea is to make people feel at home," Molasky said. "We allow people to bring their families, bring their dogs and bring other visitors. It's very homey ... you wouldn't think it was a hospital or doctor (setting)."

The current location has 13,000 square feet and 14 patient beds. The new facility is slated to have 18 patient beds in nearly 15,000 square feet. The organization addresses about 400 patients every day, mostly through home visits.

"Being on the hospital grounds affords the patients and families immediate access to medical care," said Carole Fisher, president and CEO of the hospice.

She added MountainView will provide meals, linens, security, maintenance and a chapel for meditation.

"We don't have to do any of that," she said. "We can focus on what we do best."

Burnett Haase Construction and KGA Architecture were secured to provide the approximately $2.5 million in build-out costs.

Molasky said the new site will give the hospice a higher profile.

"We're moving from a stand-alone to being part of a recognized hospital group," Molasky said. "We can take advantage of the hospital amenities, the chapel, the cafeteria ... it'll upgrade our profile."

Its profile already is one of high respect. Nathan Adelson Hospice is known for its Palliative Care Program. Palliative Care enhances comfort and minimizes pain during the last phase of an individual's life. No specific therapy is excluded, including aromatherapy, sound therapy and therapeutic massage.

"We do not drug up people for the sake of having them live in a vegetative state," Molasky said. "We use a cocktail (of drugs) so that people can live life to the fullest but without pain."

The hospice is recognized as a national model for superior hospice care and often is contacted by other facilities across the country to get Palliative Care advice and educational input.

Nathan Adelson Hospice began providing home care service in Southern Nevada in 1978. In 1983, it opened its first in-patient hospice in Las Vegas. It has another location at 4141 Swenson St., near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

"Interestingly, MountainView Hospital is part of the HCA family, and our very own Nathan Adelson was the first administrator for Sunrise Hospital, which is now a member of HCA," Fisher said. "In many respects, this is a full-circle moment. Perhaps Mr. Adelson is looking over us and beaming with pride."

For more information about Nathan Adelson Hospice, visit nah.org.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.