Angela Hospice partners with Lourdes Senior Community to open new residence

Pair of Catholic-sponsored organizations will work together to bring 15 new hospice beds to senior living facility this summer

WATERFORD — As Richard Acho walked through the hallways of the new wing at Lourdes Senior Community with Marti Coplai, president and CEO of Angela Hospice, he noticed artwork of a butterfly hanging on the wall.

Acho, president and CEO of Lourdes Senior Community in Waterford, had walked the hall countless times in the past, but had never noticed the painting. But this time, as he was giving Coplai a tour while discerning a hospice partner for the new wing, the artwork caught his attention. Coplai and Acho noted that the butterfly is the centerpiece of Angela Hospice’s logo.

Acho took it as a nudge from God, helping him to choose Angela Hospice as the provider of residential hospice care at Lourdes.

Seniors in Oakland County and beyond have relied on Lourdes for services ranging from short-term rehabilitation to memory care. The community was established in 1965 by the Dominican Sisters of Peace. Now, thanks to the combined effort with Angela Hospice, Lourdes will open a 15-bed hospice residence later this year.

In 2019, Lourdes tore down two aged nursing wings and replaced them with state-of-the art facilities. Construction was delayed because of the pandemic in 2020. When the new wings opened in 2022, nursing shortages and a growing desire for home care versus skilled nursing care caused the facility to close after just four months. Acho had to decide how to repurpose the 14,000-square-foot space, which overlooks Scott Lake.

“It has long been our strategic goal to offer the full spectrum of services, including an inpatient hospice residence. We found that in the partnership with Angela Hospice,” Acho told Detroit Catholic. “God was in our corner and worked to help solidify this.”

Acho knew from the start that Angela Hospice was the right fit. Both organizations are not-for-profit, both are sponsored by religious sisters, both have earned stellar reputations in the community, and both align in their vision. Angela Hospice is sponsored by the Livonia-based Felician Sisters.

“To be able to support even more people going through one of life’s most difficult times will be so meaningful for our team, and, we hope, the community, too,” Coplai said in a media release announcing the partnership. “We couldn’t have asked for a better location than at Lourdes Senior Community, whose mission and core values are so similar to our own.”

The need for elder care and hospice programs is growing in Michigan, which is home to the 14th oldest population in the country with 18.7% of the population age 65 or older as of 2022. Data from the state of Michigan’s Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics show a 6.2% increase in age 65-plus residents from 2000 to 2022.

Lourdes Senior Community serves more than 700 people annually; at any given time, 5-10 patients are in hospice. Angela Hospice cares for an average of 250 patients per day in their homes, in addition to the 32-bed Livonia Care Center. The partnership with Lourdes will allow Angela Hospice to expand its reach in Oakland County through in-home hospice care and grief services.

“We go to people when they need us, how they need us, and where they need us. We go to their homes, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities — wherever they’re most comfortable receiving care,” said Jennifer Dale, director of community outreach and philanthropy for Angela Hospice.

Grief support services through Angela Grief Care are provided not only to families who have lost loved ones and received care from Angela Hospice, but also to those in the community. Programs include support groups, book clubs, and even cooking classes for those who find themselves cooking alone after losing a spouse. Grief services are offered free of charge in schools, community centers, churches, care facilities and online.

“We all grieve differently. There isn’t an ending and a beginning with grief. Two people will grieve on two different levels and two different time frames, and their needs are different,” Dale said. “One of the things our grief care team does here is to meet those needs in the community, as well as being available on an individual counseling basis.”

Acho looks forward to the opening of the new inpatient hospice center and to providing compassionate, comprehensive end-of-life care through Angela Hospice. He believes the peaceful surroundings at Lourdes, combined with pastoral care for both Catholics and non-Catholics, makes the community a special place for anyone needing hospice care and their families.