Rainbow Hospice Ark Temporarily Relocates for Renovations

After more than five years of service, Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care is temporarily relocating their Rainbow Hospice Ark, inpatient unit as they prepare for construction.  The renovations, which are expected to take 8-10 weeks, will help maintain the award-winning qualities of the original facility.

Designed in early 2007, the 7,000 square foot, 15-suite inpatient unit was created to offer a home-like environment for patients and families while providing hospital level care for Rainbow Hospice’s most critical patients.

The construction of the Ark was a collaborative effort between Rainbow Hospice with an amazing array of community and staff supporters as well as business donors including: Norman Mechanical of Rolling Meadows; Good Earth Lighting of Wheeling; Activision Electric of Rosemont; HKM Architects of Arlington Heights; Sony Electronics of Itasca; Villano Interiors, Inc. of Elk Grove Village; and Skalena Electric, Park Ridge Stationers, & Hanna Z. Interiors of Park Ridge.

The end result was an award-winning space, recognized in Healthcare Design Magazine, that included multiple family sitting areas with couches and a fireplace, an overhead “skylight” of rear-lit painted clouds and sky, and a 24-hour facility that could accommodate families overnight.

Since opening in November of 2007 at the St. Matthew Center for Health, the Rainbow Hospice Ark has served more than 3,000 community members facing terminal illness.  During that time, the need for the services of the Rainbow Hospice Ark have only increased, which led to the desire to renovate the facility.

“We receive amazing feedback from our families when they talk about the Rainbow Hospice Ark, some have even called it the front porch to heaven,” said Pat Ahern, President and CEO of Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care.  “After five years, we have decided to renovate the interior before it starts to age, so we can continue to provide an exceptional space for our patients and families.”

The renovations will include completely new flooring, a freshly remodeled interior color design, as well as new and reupholstered furniture to match. These changes will also help complement another recent addition to the Ark, brand new, state-of-the-art beds.

The beds, which cost around $6,000 each, are specially designed to meet the medical needs of hospice patients who are too weak to move, or who have developed sensitive conditions with their skin.  Each bed has a widely adjustable layout and micro-stimulation which is able to alternate pressure to different parts of the body.  The purchase of the beds was made possible through significant grant funding from the Coleman Foundation, the Helen Brach Foundation, and the Million Dollar Round Table of Park Ridge.