Shreveport, LA – St. Joseph Hospice is slated to soon open the doors of their newest inpatient hospice house, located at 8950 E Kings Hwy in Shreveport. The Carpenter House of St. Joseph Hospice will serve as a place of peace for hospice patients with symptoms not well managed at home. Offering sixteen home-like rooms with private bathrooms and patios, a room dedicated to U.S. Veterans, comfortable living and dining areas, a family kitchen, library and chapel, the facility will provide the confidence of a hospital, with the comforts of home. The Carpenter House also boasts a children’s play area, chess room, grand piano, and a large outdoor area with a walking trail, koi pond, fountain, and gazebo.

St. Joseph Hospice has served the Shreveport area since 2003 and currently has offices located throughout Louisiana and Mississippi, in addition to Mobile, AL, and Conroe, TX.  Headquartered in Baton Rouge, the first Carpenter House was opened there in December of 2008 as the first free-standing inpatient hospice facility.  Since that time, The Carpenter House has earned a reputation as a competent and compassionate leader of inpatient hospice care.

The Carpenter House will allow patients to transition directly from their residence or the hospital into a home-like atmosphere and will help patients and families in need of intense assistance with symptom management as appropriate patients step down from acute care hospitalization. “This option is crucial since patients have elected to seek comfort and dignity rather than heroic curative measures … they are now on a different trajectory, and The Carpenter House supports and respects the­­­ choice made by the patient and family,” stated Pat Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer. “This strategic move allows St. Joseph Hospice to offer crisis care in a home-like atmosphere for our patients rather than sending them to the emergency room. We believe this will improve our patient outcomes and help improve outcomes in the local acute care hospitals, while lowering unnecessary costs to the Medicare system.”

As our population ages, innovative health care providers evolve their services to meet changing needs. St. Joseph Hospice has done just that. The staff is comprised of a compassionate, experienced, and well-trained interdisciplinary team of professionals including Board Certified Hospice and Palliative Care physicians, skilled registered and licensed practical nurses; certified nursing assistants; medical social workers; bereavement counselors; chaplains; and hospice-trained volunteers.

“St. Joseph Hospice is privileged to have served the Shreveport area for over 16 years, respecting life from conception through natural death,” said Mitchell. “The Carpenter House of St. Joseph Hospice will help us meet better meet the needs of those with life-limiting illnesses in the dignified manner which they deserve.”

St. Joseph Hospice is licensed by the State of Louisiana and is Medicare certified. For more information, please call 318-222-8723, or visit www.stjosephhospice.com.