Expansion Of Denver Hospice Means More Will 'Be Loved In Their End Days'

DENVER (CBS4) - A new facility in the Lowry area of Denver is being built to provide families more solace when facing tough medical diagnoses. On Thursday morning staff broke ground at The Denver Hospice on a new 24,000 square foot support center.

The Amy Davis Hospice Center will allow more community-based services for people who are facing a life-limiting illness and their families.

The expansion is welcome news for patients at the current facility like 70-year-old Gloria Gradisar. It is also crucial.

Gradisar says while many think of hospice as an end, her time at the facility has been a celebration of life. And thankfully, her life has been a full one.

That's why, when she suffered a heart attack in March, her loved ones were taken by surprise.

"I thought I had the flu and finally after six days I said to my husband 'We have to go the ER, they have to take care of this flu,'" she explained, "I came to find out I was having a massive heart attack."

Since then, recovery has been a process. Doctors told her she needed open-heart surgery, and that her days were limited.

"I wanted my end days to be peace and comfort and I knew that hospice is where I would get the peace and comfort," she said.

Gradisar told CBS4's Mekialaya White that given the circumstances there's no place she'd rather be. At The Denver Hospice she is being taken care of by the warm staff and surrounded by people she loves. That all propels her forward.

"I am blessed, beyond blessed. The outflowing of love I believe is even what is keeping me here longer because love heals a lot, and being loved in your end days is beyond compare," Gradisar said.

The center is expected to be completed by 2020. It will offer expert care to those in need, regardless of their ability to pay.