Duke Hospice Celebrates Groundbreaking

More than 60 friends and supporters of Duke Hospice celebrated the groundbreaking for a 12-bed, 15,100 square-foot hospice house in November.

John W. Mallard, Jr., president & CEO of Cardinal State Bank and a long-time Durham resident, will serve as chairman of the development committee, spearheading a community initiative to raise a total of $2.5 million in capital funding over the next three years.

Two lead gifts - $1 million from Durham developer Gary Hock and $100,000 from Robert Machemer, MD, Duke chairman of ophthalmology, emeritus, and wife, Christine Machemer, MD - along with gifts from others in the community have brought the total raised to date to more than $1.2 million.

Construction on the new facility, located beside the Teer House community education center on Roxboro Road, is scheduled to begin in January, with opening targeted for January 2009.

In photo from left: Paul Newman, vice president, ambulatory services and chief executive officer, Duke Clinic; Maryann Black, associate vice president, community affairs; Gary Hock, owner, Hock Development Corporation; Ellen Reckhow, chairman, Durham County Board of County Commissioners; and Starr Browning, Duke HomeCare & Hospice