Hospice of North Idaho is expanding its campus in Coeur d’Alene with a $2.8 million community building.

The two-story, 15,200-square-foot structure will be located just south of the Schneidmiller Hospice House building at 2290 W. Prairie, in northwest Coeur d’Alene, says Denna Grangaard, a Hospice of North Idaho spokeswoman.

Coeur d’Alene-based Young Construction Group of Idaho Inc. is the contractor on the project, and Architects West Inc., of Coeur d’Alene, designed it.

The project is scheduled to be completed in January, Grangaard says.

The lower floor of the building will include a 200-person capacity community event room and smaller meeting rooms for grief and loss support groups and private counseling, she says.

The new building will enable Hospice of North Idaho to host events with Kootenai Health, the hospice’s foundation, and other nonprofits, she says.

The upper floor will have staff offices.

“The hospice staff will now be located on the same campus, which will enhance care and access to patients and families,” Grangaard says.

The hospice staff offices currently are located at 9493 N. Government Way, in Hayden, which is more than two miles northeast of the Schneidmiller Hospice House.

Hospice of North Idaho has about 100 employees and 200 volunteers, she says.

The nonprofit provides end-of-life inpatient care in a homelike setting and grief support to residents of Kootenai, Shoshone, and Benewah counties.

Hospice of North Idaho also is expanding its gardens and walking paths as part of campus landscaping to be included in the project. The paths and gardens will connect the two buildings and offer visitors opportunities to stroll on 3 acres of the property, Grangaard says. 

Hospice of North Idaho was established to provide comfort care in 1981, and the nonprofit erected the 14,000-square-foot, 12-room Schneidmiller Hospice House in 2011.

Schneidmiller Hospice House was built to accommodate future expansion, Grangaard says.