NCMC’s Hospitality House celebrates arrival of new furnishings
GREELEY, Colo. (July 22, 2008) – Furniture valued at more than $46,000 will round out renovations to North Colorado Medical Center’s Hospitality House just in time for National Hospitality House Week.
The Hospitality House, located on 15th Street on the north side of NCMC’s campus, serves as a home-away-from-home for NCMC patients and their families. In 2007, 1,057 families stayed at the Hospitality House for a total of 3,266 nights.
In its 16th year, the Hospitality House provides lodging at a reduced cost – as low as $15 per night – which can be a relief for patients and families who travel from out of town for care.
The furniture from Designers Loft will go into 16 rooms and will complete a remodeling project that started a few years ago. The older, gently used furniture will be donated to the Weld Furniture Bank.
Leslie Gann Exner, Director of Volunteer Services and the Hospitality House, said the 20 room guest house is one of Greeley’s best kept secrets.
“Communities outside of Greeley know about the Hospitality House because people travel for care and stay here,” she said. “We also have volunteers, nurses, physicians and other departments that refer patients and their families here when they need lodging.”
The cost is $15 for a standard room that has a bed, small refrigerator, microwave and bathroom. The apartment, for $25, has two single beds, a sofa, loveseat, private bathroom and efficiency kitchen.
Guests also have the use of on-site laundry and the common kitchen and living area.
For meals, the Hospitality House guests may visit the NCMC Banner Bistro or the NCMC 16th Street Terrace within the hospital and receive discounts.
The Hospitality House program was started by employees who saw the hardship people faced when they traveled from out of town for health care and paid $80 to $140 or more to stay in a hotel.
Once the Ella Mead Hall of Nursing in honor of the former Greeley physician, the building was a family resource center before being converted for guest housing. Hospital funds cover the cost of the salaries, building maintenance and facilities. Other financial support comes from the NCMC Foundation.
Other Hospitality House facts from 2007:
- Guests go through about 15,000 pounds of linen per year.
- Guests from all over the United States, Mexico, Africa, Australia, England and New Zealand have stayed in the Hospitality House.
- Caretakers bake about 240 pounds of cookies each year for the guests.
- The average stay is 3.09 nights.
- About 2,000 travel-size shampoos and soaps are donated per year by NCMC employees and are used by guests.
- Hospitality House covers about 14,000 square feet.
- National Hospitality House Week is recognized July 20-26. For more information, visit www.nahhh.org.
SIDEBAR: The NCMC Foundation will hold its annual Thissen Construction Corporation Hospitality Bowl-A-Thon on Aug. 1 at Highland Park Lanes in Greeley.
Teams of four bowlers compete in various bowling games. Major, corporate and team sponsorships support the event. Bowlers dress in costume according to the event theme – which is Indy Adventure Bowl this year – and have a chance to win prizes through the evening.
For more information about the event, please call Diana Wood at the NCMC Foundation at (970) 395-2687.
ABOUT NORTH COLORADO MEDICAL CENTER
North Colorado Medical Center is a fully accredited, private, nonprofit facility licensed to operate 398 beds. It serves as a regional medical center with community-based and specialty services in a service area including southern Wyoming, western Nebraska, western Kansas and northeastern Colorado. A family-centered obstetrics unit, cardiovascular, oncology, orthopedics, neurology, Level II trauma, Western States Burn Center and acute inpatient rehabilitation are among the many services offered through the medical center. Nearly 400,000 square feet of new patient care space was added to the northern Colorado region when the NCMC opened an expanded facility in December 2005. Included is the CardioVascular Institute of North Colorado featuring state-of-the-art heart services; expanded birthing center and neonatal care unit, new intensive care units and new surgical suites.
ABOUT BANNER HEALTH
Based in Phoenix, Banner Health is one of the largest, nonprofit health care systems in the country. Banner has 22 facilities that offer an array of services including hospital care, home care, hospice care, nursing registries, surgery centers, laboratories, rehabilitation services. These facilities are located in seven states – Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wyoming. In addition to emergency and medical services, Banner Health medical centers house a variety of specialized services, including heart care, cancer treatment, delivery of high-order multiple births, organ transplants, bone marrow transplants, rehabilitation services, and behavioral health services.
Contact:
Sara Quale, Public Relations Specialist
Banner Health Public Relations, (970) 635-4031
Gene Haffner, Director, Public Relations
North Colorado Medical Center, (970) 350-6133
