Brunswick County could get hospice

BRUNSWICK COUNTY — If you live in Brunswick County and have a family member who is terminally ill the closest facility to get in-patient care is in Wilmington. But that could be changing.

Lower Cape Fear Hospice currently has dozens of patients on a waiting list, some from Brunswick County. That’s why the group is applying to the state department of facilities to build a six-bed hospice near Brunswick Community Hospital.

Leaders say they’ve received nearly 200 letters of support from county leaders and medical staff saying how much the community needs the facility.

Lower Cape Fear Hospice Coordinator Donna Wilkes said, “We want to be able to bring this facility to Brunswick Community so that families don’t have to travel down to Wilmington to get the needs served and met in that county.”

Once the application is sent, the state department of facilities will have until November fifth to make its decision.

If the state approves the facility in Brunswick County, it would not open until 2011.