Hospice background
The local hospice operation is part of for-profit Tulsa, Okla.-based Crossroads Hospice, which has nine locations nationwide, including four in Ohio: Washington Twp., Cincinnati, Akron and Cleveland. Crossroads' nonprofit foundation handles donations.
WASHINGTON TWP., Montgomery County — An aging population, more diagnoses of conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and a growing awareness of hospice services — all have fueled Crossroads Hospice’s growth in recent years.
But Peggy Richardson, executive director of the company’s Washington Twp.-based operations at 8069 Washington Village Drive, said patients also increasingly are seeking alternatives to end-of-life care, favoring quality over quantity.
“They don’t want to go for years and years on machines,” Richardson said.
Since opening an office in Washington Twp. in 2007, Crossroads’ number of local employees has grown from 10 to 80, with hiring under way for 10 more field staff — mostly nurses and home health aides. Another 25 employees will be hired in the next year.
To accommodate the growth, Crossroads invested $1.8 million in a new 10,000-square-foot facility across the parking lot from its former 5,600-square-foot location at 8087 Washington Village Drive. Crossroads moved on March 26.
Local revenues reached nearly $6.5 million in 2009, Richardson said. That year, Crossroads served 350 patients, with length of service to each patient typically ranging from 50 to 160 days.
Crossroads serves a 50-mile radius, including all or portions of Butler, Warren, Montgomery, Clark, Greene, Preble, Miami and Clinton counties.
The number of Alzheimer’s deaths in Montgomery County alone grew from 395 in 2000-02 to 810 in 2006-08, according to the Ohio Department of Health. And cancer is now the county’s leading cause of death, with 864 deaths between 2006 and 2008.
The local hospice operation is part of for-profit Tulsa, Okla.-based Crossroads Hospice, which has nine locations nationwide, including four in Ohio: Washington Twp., Cincinnati, Akron and Cleveland. Crossroads’ nonprofit foundation handles donations.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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