Change is in the air at the Palliative CareCenter & Hospice of Catawba Valley, but that doesn't mean the scores of volunteers and more than 150 staffmembers will neglect quality.

    When asked about expansion into the Sherrills Ford area, Executive Director Dave Clarke will answer your questions with a story:

    There was a woman sitting in the middle of a crowd gathered to hear about the CareCenter's possible expansion. After announcing the CareCenter's intentions — which are to build a 10,000-12,000 square foot facility on 3.22 acres at 7473 Sherrills Ford Road — that woman stood up, with tears in her eyes, and said "You mean those angels are going to be in our community."

    The CareCenter broke ground on Phase I of its expansion project off Robinson Road. The fundraising goal for this project is $2.5 million, and Clarke said they've raised more than  $1.6 million.

    The addition at the CareCenter will include 12 more beds.

    "The thing that you need to know about this expansion is that it free us acupe beds in the hospitals, too," he said, adding that the cost of services at the CareCenter is a quarter of what it would be at the hospital.

    Presently one of these beds is filled with Gladys Walters.  

    "I get plenty of care, my needs filled. Just anything, they do it," she said.

    Walters, whose been in Hospice care for more than 10 months, said she decided on the care because of the good things people said about it. She said to experience the care that the patients receive, all one needs to do is "just walk around here and see."

    Walters isn't alone. The number of patients served by the Palliative CareCenter & Hospice of Catawba Valley has risen from 337 in 1997 to 1,549 in 2007. The CareCenter serves more than half of all the Catawba County deaths.

    "All of that growth has brought us to the point of needs additional beds," Clarke said.

    The building should begin in April and Clarke said he hopes the project, which will connect to the existing facility, will be complete by February of 2009.