Add your message inside the walls of $3.5M Tri-Cities Hospice remodel
Tri-Cities Chaplaincy Hospice House invites supporters to tuck messages inside its walls as it briefly pauses renovation and expansion work this week.
The public can visit from 3-5 p.m., Friday, Aug. 29. Hospice House is at 2018 W. Entiat Ave., Kennewick.
Laurie Jackson, CEO, traces the idea of leaving messages inside walls before they’re sealed up to the original construction some 30 years ago.
Hospice House currently has about 150 patients enrolled in programs that provide end-of-life services in their homes and at Hospice House.
Hospice House is currently closed to patients while it undergoes $3.5 million renovation and modest expansion that preserves its 10 beds but provides added meeting and work spaces for staff and family.
During Friday’s Blessings Day program, visitors can leave messages or write poems, names or other affirmations on the studs before the walls are sealed up.
Everyone is welcome, but closed-toe shoes are required since it is an active construction zone.
Labor of love
Hospice House first opened with six beds in 1996 thanks to mostly volunteer labor. It quickly grew to 10 beds, the same number it has now.
Jackson said long-time supporters regularly share memories of pounding nails and leaving messages in the unfinished walls nearly 30 years ago.
Current leaders decided to recreate the moment when Bouten Construction, the contractor, advised it was almost ready to finish the walls.
“It’s a neat way to pur your literal mark,” she said.
Tri-Cities Chaplaincy Hospice House is one of just two in-patient clinics in Eastern Washington after two facilities — one in Yakima and one in Spokane — closed amid budget challenges in the past 12 months.
“I’m grateful that we can have a Hospice House with so many others closing down, we’re doubling down,” Jackson said.
Jackson credits the Tri-Cities with stepping in to preserve an important community asset.
Tri-Cities Chaplaincy provides two types of hospice support. Most of its 150 patients are served in their homes. Hospice House offers a physical place for patients to be stabilized, or to stay for up to five days while their caregivers get a much-needed respite.
During construction, in-patient care is being provided at a local nursing facility.
The updated and expanded Hospice House will resume serving patients in person by Jan. 1, 2026.
Tri-Cities Chaplaincy launched the update after concluding that building a new facility on land it owned at the Richland Wye was cost prohibitive. It abandoned the idea and sold the property.
Room to breathe
The project is making significant updates to staff and family facilities, while addressing old building issues, including leaks.
Hospice House is getting comfortable spaces where family and friends can decompress and an expanded nurses’ station so staff don’t have to work in hallways.
Jackson recalled walking into the tight kitchen and seeing a physician meeting with one family while another discretely ate KFC nearby.
“It just wasn’t comfortable,” she said.
The renovations include a new, sizeable kitchen as well as the larger nurses’ station. It is also creating a chapel area where people can take a moment from the difficult challenges posed by the end-of-life mission.
“Everyone wants a moment,” she said.
The expansion is adding a fireside room.
Patient room suites are being refreshed and given computer stations where medical workers can chart care in place, the current best practice for managing medications.
Grants are helping refresh the hospice courtyard. Work includes putting a gazebo over the pond to shield its many koi from harsh Tri-Cities sun.
How to help
Hospice House still aims to raise about $1.6 million to pay for the project.
Supporters can make one-time and recurring donations online. Hospice House is also selling naming rights for some of the rooms within the facility.
Go to tccbestlife.org/hospice-house-renovation-project/ or call 509-783-7416 for donor and other project information.
This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 11:22 AM.