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Strafford County to close Haidider House as freestanding hospice, move services into Riverside
Summary
Strafford County commissioners announced they will close Haidider House as an independent inpatient hospice and transfer much of its palliative care to the county nursing home, Riverside, citing a near $4 million annual operating cost, falling census and a recent credit‑rating downgrade. Closure is scheduled for April 18; staff were told to indicate interest in Riverside positions by April 10.
Strafford County commissioners announced on April 2 that Haidider House, the county’s inpatient hospice, will close as a freestanding operation and some services will be moved into the county’s Riverside facility.
The county’s chair, speaking at the commissioners’ meeting, said the decision follows years of declining admissions and rising costs. “The county’s broke,” the chair said, summarizing the fiscal pressure that prompted the move. He told the meeting Haidider’s annual operating cost is roughly $4 million while Medicare payments account for about $800,000, leaving the balance to be covered by property tax revenue.
Commissioners said several factors converged to produce the shortfall: a post‑COVID shift that left more patients receiving hospice care at home, rising medication costs (the chair cited daily medication costs in the hundreds of…
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