The Visiting Nurse Association of the Treasure Coast finally owns the land under its Hospice House building after closing last week on the purchase for $3.8 million of a prime chunk of real estate just east of Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital.

For decades, VNA had leased the 14.56-acre parcel on 37th Street from the Hospital District. The 12,000-square-foot 12-bed Hospice House, plus 4.2 acres of tropical meditation gardens, and a memorial are situated at the rear or south end of the parcel, while more than half of the land with 37th Street frontage remains vacant.

While some may assume that the VNA will give up its rented space at Parc 24 in Vero and build a headquarters on the land, VNA President and CEO Lundy Fields said that’s not a foregone conclusion.

“It’s logical to think that eventually we would do that, but we’re not making any plans to do that,” Fields said. “There are a lot of needs in this community, and I want to work with the key community leaders to have a really inclusive engagement with the community to determine the best use of the property.”

Negotiations for purchase of the land began in early 2023, with the parties entering into a formal agreement last fall. With the VNA’s 50-year anniversary approaching in 2025, the agency wanted a more permanent footprint at the heart of Vero’s healthcare corridor.

Owning the land was the dream of long-time VNA and Hospice Foundation Chair Kathie Pierce, who passed away in January 2023 in the midst of the negotiations with the Hospital District about the land.

“She loved the VNA and was a big supporter of buying that property, and so the whole Pierce family jumped in and really gave a substantial gift, a little over $2 million came from the Pierce family and the Pierce Family Foundation. They’ve been huge supporters of this project, plus they brought in and stimulated a lot of other gifts,” said Fields.

He said the VNA plans to construct a Kathie Pierce Memorial on the property to honor her.

Despite the long wait to make the purchase, the VNA has no blueprints at the ready for an expansion of Hospice House.

“Our focus, as you can imagine, for the last year or so has been centered on just acquiring the property, just knowing that long-term, whatever happens it would always be good to be an owner versus being a renter,” Fields said.

The $3.8 million purchase price was a compromise between two appraisals obtained by the agencies – the Hospital District’s appraiser arrived at a $4.125 million market value, while the VNA’s appraiser valued the property at $3.4 million due to deed restrictions.

Where some areas of the country have waiting lists for Hospice beds, Fields said the VNA typically has a vacancy or two at any given time – but that could change.

“I think we want to earmark some of the property for future expansion because, as the county grows the need for the Hospice House will grow,” he said.

The average patient census, he said, is about 10 patients, including respite patients. When the primary caregivers of one of the more than 200 at-home Hospice patients needs or wants to travel, or requires a break due to illness, injury or other family responsibilities, the patient can take up residence at the VNA Hospice House for up to five days as a respite patient.

Lundy said the needs of caregivers will likely factor into the agency’s plans for the property. One long-standing “wish list” item has been a more robust formal training program for at-home Hospice primary caregivers, to equip family and friends of the terminally ill patient with some of the basic medical knowledge of a trained nursing assistant.

“At VNA we have a heart to have a training facility where we could invite people from the community who are in caregiving situations where we could say come on in, today we’re going to talk about how do you change the bed with the patient in the bed. How do you change the bedsheets, and show them how to do that and let them practice it. Or how do you give a bed bath. Safely transferring them.
“I could see that clearly in the future to provide that kind of training, it’s down the road, but it’s what we’re striving for,” he said.

From the Hospital District’s perspective, the mutually beneficial transaction was a prudent way to use the valuable tract of land, which was a long-time taxpayer asset, and in line with the district’s mission of improving the health of Indian River County’s residents.

“The sale of this property to the VNA represents a strategic decision aimed at fostering the long-term growth and sustainability of essential healthcare resources in Indian River County,” stated Marybeth Cunningham, Hospital District chairwoman.

“By entrusting this land to the VNA, the Hospital District is not only ensuring the preservation and protection of vital healthcare facilities and services, but also empowering the VNA to navigate an uncertain healthcare landscape with resilience and agility,” she said.

The Hospital District also now has $3.8 million to fund future projects, including a planned sober-living treatment and recovery facility.

Founded in 1975, VNA of the Treasure Coast provides in-home skilled nursing care and coordination with doctors, social workers and other healthcare practitioners to help patients recover from injuries, surgeries and illnesses, as well as end-of-life care through its Hospice House and programs to facilitate palliative care at home.