First of Its Kind Hospice to Open This Year

On Feb 12, 2016

Short Hills-based Investors Bank, through the Investors Bank Foundation and Roma Bank Community Foundation, recently provided Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice with $8,000 in grants in support of The Samaritan Center at Voorhees, which will be southern New Jersey’s first free-standing inpatient hospice.

The Samaritan Center at Voorhees will be located on Route 73, within 10 miles of five sub-acute hospitals, and will serve patients and families in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Atlantic Counties. According to Chris Rollins, CFRE, Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice Chief Development Officer, the Center should open by the end of 2016.

Since 1980, Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice – an independent, not-for-profit – has been providing a growing spectrum of healthcare and hospice services through its Palliative Medical Partners and hospice care, and Center for Grief Support.

“The Samaritan Center at Voorhees is designed as a low-country cottage, and will feature three wings each with six private patient rooms and a common area with a living room, kitchen, dining room, and children’s alcove,” explained Rollins. “Each private room will offer space for families to gather with loved ones, a private bathroom, a pullout bed for visitors, places for mementos from home, and a private conversation alcove, when family members need time away from the bedside.”

Additionally, the Center will include a 98-seat auditorium – located separately from the patient wings – for community, educational, and memorial events, as well as a meditation chapel, counseling rooms, and conference space for the spiritual, emotional, and bereavement support of patients, families, visitors, and staff.

“Most people want to be at home for their final days,” said Mary Ann Boccolini, president & CEO, Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice. “But if that’s not possible, they want a level of care that can only be provided by a comforting, homelike place like The Samaritan Center at Voorhees. We are grateful to Investors Bank for helping to make this level of comfort available to members of our local communities through its generous donation.”

Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice applied for the grants from the Investors Bank Foundation and Roma Bank Community Foundation; Roma Bank became part of Investors Bank in December 2013. The foundations support non-profit organizations that enrich diverse communities served by Investors Bank.

The grant checks were presented by Investors Bank’s Carmine Pannullo, a Senior Market Manager, and Angela Venti, Assistant Vice President/Branch Manager – Marlton Office.

“Ensuring our loved ones have access to the best possible care, especially at the end of their life, is essential,” said Venti. “Investors Bank is proud to join the corporations and individuals from across southern New Jersey in assisting Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice in creating the first center of its kind in our region.”

The Samaritan Center at Voorhees will have the capacity to serve approximately 1,100 people annually.

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