The Kevin Guest House, which provides lodging and other services to out-of-town medical patients and their loved ones, is aiming to expand.
Established in 1972, it bills itself as the nation's first hospital hospitality home. But space limitations at the Ellicott Street facility create a waiting list that averages 400 people each year. The purchase of a building and a nearby carriage house located on the same street as the current facility will aim to increase capacity.
The law firm Schroder, Joseph & Associates sold the former Victorian home located in the heart of the growing Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus to the nonprofit group. Kevin Guest House Executive Director Lynsey Weaver said the building, located at 766 Ellicott St., will help the group meet the rising need for housing.
“We see demand increasing from all the hospitals, especially as some patients are being treated as outpatients, but needing to go back several times to the hospital,” Weaver said. “We’re seeing this growth, and we need to put a plan together to react to that demand.”
She noted that the planned expansion is coming at a time when the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus continues to grow.
A campaign was launched in January 2014 to raise $3 million, money that would have been used to tear down and rebuild one of the group’s previously purchased buildings. However, when the law firm decided to sell its property, the House changed its plans. The law firm’s building sold for $785,000. The group continues efforts to raise an additional $1.7 million, which is critical to the expansion plan.
Weaver said the House hopes to renovate the building and a Carriage House at 788 1/2 Ellicott St.
“To renovate it, we’re hoping to put in four private suites with larger rooms for larger families, with handicap accessible bathrooms and two additional transplant recovery apartments,” Weaver said.
The changes will allow the group to house up to 24 additional guests in what officials describe as a "historical home-away-from home" atmosphere.
