A clearing in the woods. A glassy pond. A well-appointed, architect-designed building on 30 acres accessed by a private road.

Perhaps a country club or mountain lodge?

Hospice House, years in the minds and on the drawing boards of FirstHealth Hospice and Palliative Care, welcomed the public Thursday, 21 months after construction began on the $13.8 million facility.

More than 400 guests viewed patient suites, living and dining rooms, playrooms for children, a laundry area, solace parlors, an industrial kitchen, snack bar, solarium and screened porch, a spa with towel-warmer, Jacuzzi and hair-washing chair. The nursing station is of mission control proportions.

“Astonishing,” said Pinehurst resident Chris Stevenson.

“First class, like Eloise at the Plaza,” said Al Dunham, also of Pinehurst.

“The artwork is mind-boggling,” added his wife, Polly, a craftsperson and artist.

“The first time I walked in I cried,” said Dr. Ellen Willard, oncologist and hospice medical director.

Willard’s tears were joyful. By early October, the facility will accommodate 11 acute-care patients. Some confusion exists about the designation, Willard said.

“This isn’t a residence where patients stay long term,” she said. “It is designed to meet acute-care medical needs, like pain and symptoms control that cannot be met at home by a hospice nurse.”

Length of stay may be days, weeks or until the situation moderates. Inevitably, some patients will die here.

In the past, these patients would have been admitted to the hospital.

The number of beds is decided by a complicated formula resulting in a certificate of need through the N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation. FirstHealth Hospice House was granted 11 beds.

Attendees questioned the number, given the scope of the facility. Plans for a 12-bed expansion were built into the design, said Hospice/Palliative Care director Charlotte Patterson.

Eligibility is decided by a team, which includes Willard and Patterson. The facility accepts Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance.

“Everyone is admitted whether they can pay or not,” Patterson said. “No one is turned away for lack of insurance.”

Since 2000, hospice has served more than 4,000 patients at home, in nursing facilities and elsewhere in Moore County. Emphasis is on living comfortably and fully, in familiar surroundings with family, friends, medical and pastoral personnel nearby.

The Pinehurst campus off U.S. 15-501 consists of three buildings: residence, administration/grief counseling center and chapel. The site, formerly an RV campground, was a partial gift from Michelle and James Kirkpatrick.

GMK, a South Carolina firm specializing in medical facilities, designed the installation. Local subcontractors were used whenever possible. Patterson and assistant director Tina Gibbs supervised the interior décor.

Guests, many of them health professionals, walked through the residence quietly, in awe of the mustard-gold and soft green earth hues, miles of moldings, rich upholstery and polished dark wood pieces worthy of a High Point showroom.

Patient suites have wood flooring, ceiling fans, flat-screen televisions, recliners and sleep sofas for family. Nothing appears institutional, although beds with head and footboards and memory foam mattresses may be adjusted to multiple positions, even rolled through French doors onto the patio outside each room.

Paintings over the beds slide aside to reveal oxygen hook-ups. Dimmer-controlled ambient lighting enables caregivers to enter without disturbing patients. Food is available to patients and families 24 hours a day.

Laurie Edwards appreciates the facility on several levels. She is an oncology case management registered nurse at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital — and a cancer survivor.

“The colors are soothing and comforting,” Edwards said. “The rooms are large, the hallways wide.”

Best of all, equipment can be kept concealed.

“This eases tension for the family,” Edwards said. “Equipment can be intimidating.”

The registered nurse-to-patient ratio is 1-6, with a team of medical professionals, social workers, counselors and volunteers assigned to each patient.

Patterson plans to include a house pet. Until then and after, Tess, a certified therapy dog handled by Kathy Constantino, will visit frequently. Constantino recalls bringing the golden retriever to a hospice patient who was actively dying.

“Tess jumped on the bed and put her head on the man’s leg,” she said. “He roused for a moment and petted her. The doctor said to leave her there, that this was the most awareness his patient had shown for days.”

A relative of another patient attended by Tess said, “Thank you for this magical moment.”

The administration building houses offices and FirstHealth Grief Resource and Counseling Center, which is open to hospice families and the public at no charge.

The center has a reception area, a library of books on bereavement-related topics, a children’s room filled with games and stuffed animals, a kiln room for creative therapy, a room for teens, private and group counseling rooms, a kitchen and even a gift shop. Here, also, noninstitutional furnishings combine comfort and elegance.

“We had to share space at our old office (on Aviemore Drive),” said Donna Miller, a clinical social worker and grief counselor. “Now we can see more clients.”

The chapel nearing completion will be nondenominational, without crosses or religious icons unless provided by a user, notes co-pastor Twyla Nelson. Gatherings may be enhanced by an audio-visual system. Glass panels and skylight overlook the pond – an ideal site for meditation. The chapel seats 50, making it suitable for small funerals or memorial services. Chaplains are always on call for patients and their families.

Katherine Stevenson, who lives nearby, was pleased but not surprised by the campus.

“This is comparable to how FirstHealth always does things,” she said.

Over refreshments served throughout the afternoon, the predominately senior attendees (and a few current hospice recipients) spoke of how viewing this lovely, serene place helped remove the mystery and fear from end-of-life situations.

“I’ll just come right out and say it — I wouldn’t mind dying here,” Sue Johnson admitted. “But not for a while.”

Contact Deborah Salomon at debsalomon@nc.rr.com.