McLambs to chair LCF Hospice campaign

W.J. and Sibyl McLamb will serve as Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter chairs of the Closer to Home capital campaign. The campaign will raise funds to build a seven-bed inpatient hospice care center for Brunswick County patients and families.

The McLambs were touched by the hospice care their loved one received by Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter.

“The time has come for Brunswick County to have its own hospice care center, and the people of Brunswick County deserve to have an inpatient care center closer to home,” Sibyl McLamb said.

Dianne Tripp and Tripp Sloane are joining the McLambs as co-chairs of the campaign. Tripp and Sloan believe the construction of a hospice care center is a worthwhile endeavor for the people of Brunswick County.

“Our family was fortunate enough to have hospice when my mother was terminally ill, and this is my way of giving back,” Tripp said. “The hospice team members were my sunshine on my darkest days.”

“Imagine facing the life-limiting illness of your loved one while having to spend precious time traveling to a hospice care center in another county,” Slone said. “Patients and families have traveled up to 75 miles each way to visit loved ones at the Wilmington Hospice Care Center for more than a decade.”

Sloane and others are working to identify land for the new hospice care center.

“Securing land is our first priority. We are looking for a generous donor to donate 5-10 acres within five miles of the hospital for this facility.”

Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter has served Brunswick County for almost 30 years. Hospice patients now have an additional choice with the opening of the Whiteville Hospice Care Center, but this still requires a long drive.

“We want to take hospice care in Brunswick County to the next level by building an inpatient hospice care facility in our community,” Sloane said.

“I am so pleased to have the McLambs, Dianne and Tripp onboard,” said Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter President and CEO Laurie Bystrom.

“Their leadership and commitment, together with campaign manager Cindy Cheatham, will make this campaign successful in obtaining the funds to build this health care facility.”

Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter received approval from the state of North Carolina to build a hospice care center in Brunswick County.

The $4.4 million construction project is a 12,000-square-foot acute care hospice facility with administration support space.

The building includes seven private patient and family suites, family living, kitchen, library and laundry areas—all designed to meet the needs of patients and their visiting caregivers and families.

The McLambs are hopeful all citizens of Brunswick County will join them to assist this effort, as they did to build the hospital and the community college.

“We need to support this project. We have so many people battling cancer and other diseases. People need all the help and support they can get from the loving people that care for the patients with life-limiting illnesses,” Sibyl McLamb said.

Together, the McLambs, Sloane, Tripp and Cheatham are recruiting a network of community leaders who together will raise the necessary funds to construct the care center.

: “In addition to offering inpatient care, this new hospice care center will provide a centralized location to the staff currently providing in-home hospice care for more than 80 patients a day throughout our community. The facility will also allow us to offer outreach to the community and end-of-life educational programs,” Cheatham said.

The Closer to Home campaign demonstrates Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter’s commitment to enhance the quality of end-of-life care in southeastern North Carolina.

The agency’s board of directors is dedicated to making this new facility a “green” building by following the example of the new Phillips LifeCare & Counseling Center in Wilmington built to LEED certification standards.

The construction and opening of the facility will have a positive economic impact, offering construction jobs and new professional healthcare positions. Existing partnerships with local hospitals, community colleges, universities, churches, and civic organizations will be maintained.