DADE CITY - Hernando-Pasco Hospice plans to build a 16-bed Hospice Care Center and a 5,700-square-foot support center on its 11-acre Clinton Avenue campus, the agency said Monday.
The Hospice Care Center, among only a few in Florida, is designed for terminally ill patients in need of specialized round-the-clock care.
The family-friendly building will replace an eight-bed center in a renovated wing of Royal Oak Nursing Center in Dade City.
The 12,000-square-foot care center is intended to accommodate families as well as patients with features such as carpeted floors and traditional furniture.
A permanent office location, called the Care Team Support Center, is planned for the property as well. It will replace the office on Fort King Road in Zephyrhills.
The office now serves an average of 120 patients a day in east Pasco, the agency said.
Both projects are slated to open in spring 2005.
To fund the expansion, Hernando-Pasco Hospice initiated a $3-million capital campaign.
Armed man sought in convenience store robbery
NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco sheriff's deputies are looking for a suspect in an armed robbery at the Farm Store at 4449 Grand Blvd. early Monday.
A clerk, who was working alone about 2:30 a.m., said a man claiming to have a gun ordered him to open the store, a cash register and the safe. The robber made off with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to an incident report with the Sheriff's Office, and went north on Grand Boulevard in a old model Mercury sedan.
The clerk said the man displayed a black handgun but could not provide detail. The clerk initially said he did not recognize the man, but then said he had.
The man was described as 6 feet, about 200 pounds with green eyes and short brown hair. He was wearing a yellow tank top, the report said.
