RAPID CITY - This week, Rapid City Regional Hospital Auxiliary Hospice House, the first facility built specifically for the dying and terminally ill, will open its doors.

Last Wednesday, construction workers were laying carpet, adding flooring to the hallways, installing the countertop to the nurses' station reception area and working on a laundry list of chores to complete the 11,650-square-foot facility in time for its two open houses.

Donations for the $5 million project continue to be accepted. The hospital donated land worth $588,000 for the building, which is in a private tree-lined area near the hospital. Its capital campaign is 90 percent complete, with 300 memorial financial gifts aiding in construction.

"This has been a call to the community, and the community responded," said Tim Sughrue, Rapid City Regional Hospital chief executive officer.

Yet more is needed, Sughrue said.

"We continue to be open to community support of volunteers and financially," he said.

Earlier this year, the organizations of Home Health, Hospice of the Hills, Lifeline and Extended Care moved their offices into the lower level of the hospice facility. Director Dodie Brown of Home Care and Hospice of the Hills has been dreaming of this week for 10 years.

"We're so close," she said of completion of the in-patient hospice building. "What's gratifying about this facility is that it's another aspect of care," she added.

Since 1984, Brown and hundreds of health-care staff and volunteers have provided support, comfort and care to terminally ill patients in their own homes, nursing facilities and - in some cases - the hospital. While most hospice patients prefer to die at home, some did not have a choice and had to be moved into a nursing facility or hospital.

"They now will be able to go to Hospice House. It's another expansion," Brown said. "This is the next best thing to being in their home."

The Hospice House will provide three types of care: skilled in-patient care, five-day respite stays and residential routine care, Brown said. When patients officially arrive for care, her staff will have nearly 80 years of combined experience to care for them.

To celebrate that achievement, Hospice House will host two open houses - the first for the RCRH Auxiliary on Wednesday. The second public open house on Sunday afternoon will showcase the facility and grounds.

Tours at the open house will take guests through the 12 private rooms, the connecting patios or balconies, the family quiet room near the patients' quarters, the large living room with vaulted ceiling and stone fireplace, dining area, family kitchen, library, movie room, spa and shower room, state-of-the-art pharmacy, pantry and laundry room, as well as the surrounding grounds and peace garden.

Barbara Vargo, volunteer coordinator, said a family room would be available for family members who might arrive late at the facility and need a place to stay for one night. While most meals will be provided by the hospital kitchens, the house does have a kitchen, and food will be available for patients, who often have suppressed appetites.

"It's important that they have food when they're hungry," she said.

A nurses' station and doctor's office are only footsteps away from the rooms. Each of the private rooms contains a German-made, electronic hospital bed with cherry-wood rails, private restroom and built-in communications system. The room's windows are low enough so that even while lying in bed, patients can view the outdoors. Two doors lead into the interior hallway of the building or (depending on the side of the house) outdoors to a balcony or patio.

"We're trying to make the final days as meaningful and as rich as they can be," Vargo said.

To contact Home Care Department, call 719-7760; Hospice of the Hills Department number is 719-7710; to volunteer, call Barbara Vargo at 719-7729.

Contact Jomay Steen at jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com

If you go

What: Rapid City Regional Hospital Auxiliary Hospice House open house

When: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 16

Where: 224 Elk St., south of the hospital

Other: A preview for the RCRH Auxiliary members will be earlier in the week