Strafford County to close Haidider hospice house, move services to Riverside citing rising deficits

Strafford County commissioners said on April 2 they will close Haidider Hospice as a freestanding facility because operating deficits have become unsustainable and threaten the county’s broader finances. The chair said Haidider’s operation "cost almost $4 million a year to operate" while the county collected about "$800,000 in revenue through Medicare," with the remainder covered by property taxes.

The commission described multiple drivers of the shortfall: a steady post-COVID decline in hospice and nursing-home census, changes in reimbursement and eligibility rules, sharply higher medication costs, and the loss of anticipated revenue tied to detainee housing. "The county's broke," the chair said, adding that Moody’s had downgraded the county’s long-term credit rating from A3 to BA2, which officials said will raise future borrowing costs and further limit fiscal options.

Commissioners said the county delegation declined to adopt the county budget after disputes over Riverside Rest Home’s deficits and the county’s relationship with ICE; officials told the meeting that the ICE contract had represented a significant revenue source and that detainee removals had reduced that income. Under state law, they said, if the delegation does not adopt a budget the commissioners’ proposed budget goes into effect, but the downgrade and revenue shortfalls left few choices short of raising property taxes beyond local caps or cutting services.

As a result, the commissioners reported deciding in an administrative session to close Haidider as a standalone hospice house and to move hospice services into Riverside where feasible. The county will also reach out to local hospitals and hospice providers to explore partnerships. Officials said the closure is scheduled for April 18 and that employees have been asked to indicate interest in available positions at Riverside by April 10; accrued leave payouts will be handled for departing staff.

Public commenters and health-care workers urged the county to preserve inpatient hospice capacity. "When a person is terminally ill, the goal is not treatment. It is symptom management, comfort, and dignity," said public commenter Kobe Williams, who described Haidider as the county’s only inpatient hospice. Holly Smith, a licensed independent clinical social worker at Wentworth Hospice, said staff were "devastated" and warned that losing inpatient hospice beds will often shift end-of-life care to hospitals or leave vulnerable people at home without adequate support. A Haidider nurse who identified herself as Sally asked how many beds Riverside will open; officials said a presentation with details is being prepared for a future meeting.

Commissioners emphasized they will try to absorb as many Haidider employees into Riverside as possible but acknowledged job losses are likely and that the county will need broader cost reductions to repair its fiscal position. Officials repeated that alternatives are limited by state requirements and local property-tax caps and said they will continue outreach to the private sector and other agencies for potential solutions.

Next steps: the county plans a forthcoming presentation to the commissioners with details about how many hospice beds Riverside can reopen and staffing implications; officials set an employee response deadline of April 10 and a closure date of April 18. The decision was reached in an administrative session and no formal public roll-call vote was recorded at this meeting.