LAKEPORT – The Board of Supervisors has agreed to consider in its upcoming budget hearings a funding request to support a building study for Hospice Services of Lake County.

Marlene Kurowski, executive director of Hospice Services of Lake County, asked the board Tuesday to consider an $80,000 request that will allow the organization to undertake initial planning, a functional space analysis and design phase for a new Hospice facility at the Sutter Lakeside campus.

Hospice provides medical services to people in the end-stages of life, as well as bereavement counseling for their families. Kurowski said Hospice served 230 families and counseled 513 bereaved clients – free of charge – in 2006.

Hospice's current space in its Main Street facility, which houses both its thriving thrift shop and administration offices, is “woefully inadequate,” said Kurowski.

The organization has looked at renting, said Kurowski, concluding it was cost prohibitive. “We feel it makes more sense to invest in our community and build,” she said.

Hospice is working with Sutter Lakeside, which has offered them a 50-year lease agreement for a building ranging in size from 16,000 to 32,000 square feet, said Kurowski. The lease price, which Kurowski said has not yet been determined, would be “below market price.”

Kurowski said Hospice wants to offer in the new building an intake facility which would have as many as seven beds for patients who cannot stay in their own homes.

Hospice is negotiating with a design company that specializes in designing hospice buildings, and Kurowski said she has visited similar facilities around the state. The next phase, she said, will include a conceptual design, which will create a floor plan and cost estimate.

The board asked how Hospice intends to fund the effort. Kurowski said they're working on several plans. She said she will speak with Congressman Mike Thompson, who assisted in getting the funds for the Napa hospice building. Thompson's wife, Kurowski added, is a former hospice nurse.

Cox also offered to share with Kurowski the county's experiences on building and design and give her pointers on saving money.

The board reached consensus that it will take the issue to the budget hearings planned this spring for the 2007-08 budget.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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