Lebanon Planning Board Approves Palliative Care Facility

Officials at Dartmouth-Hitchcock received some welcomed news last night as the Lebanon Planning Board easily approved plans for a new palliative care facility to be built on its campus.

Plans for the $20-million dollar facility were originally announced by Dartmouth-Hitchcock officials back in 2014 after having received a $10-million dollar gift.

The 28,000-plus square foot facility was initially going to be constructed on land owned by Dartmouth College, but after several adaptations, officials have since settled on hospital-owned land to be accessed off Hitchcock Loop Road.

The 12-bed facility is meant for patients with serious diseases needing curative treatments, but unlike hospice, are not considered by doctors to have fewer than six months to live. Dartmouth-Hitchcock plans to construct 44 parking spaces for the new facility, which is 22 fewer than the amount required by city zoning laws.

But the board chose to reduce the requirement for the facility citing its campus already has sufficient parking.