Coastal Hospice today announced reaching a milestone in its plans to create a hospice residence and outreach center. With a gift last week from Macky and Pam Stansell, the nonprofit has crossed the $5 million threshold in donations to the campaign.
The Stansells’ gift of $74,000 is just the most recent of many in support of the campaign to create Coastal Hospice at the Ocean. In honor of the couple’s longstanding and generous support, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to name the building The Macky and Pam Stansell House at Coastal Hospice at the Ocean.
Macky Stansell made the first gift in support of the project as a member of the Coastal Hospice Board. That gift paid for the Bed Needs Assessment used in initial planning. Since then, he and his wife have consistently given in support: making cash donations and hosting and underwriting seven Blues on the Bay events at Macky’s Bayside Bar & Grill. Together, they’re responsible for more than $900,000 in gifts to the campaign. Macky Stansell co-chairs the capital campaign steering committee with attorney and Coastal Hospice Board member Dirk Widdowson.
“Macky and Pam have been tireless in their dedication and more than generous in their support,” Widdowson said. “We feel honored to have their names on this building.”
The vision for Coastal Hospice at the Ocean has doubled in scope since it was begun. What began on 5.8 acres in Berlin with rooms for six patients is now a hospice residence and outreach center with 12 patient rooms on an 11-acre waterfront property on the Isle of Wight Bay. Widdowson said that the opportunity to acquire the picturesque property from Farmers Bank of Willards has been a game-changer. Having been designed as a clubhouse at The Point in Ocean Pines, the building sat unfinished and vacant for several years until Coastal Hospice purchased it at the end of 2016.
In making its decision to purchase the property, which was sold at deep discount, the Coastal Hospice Board reexamined its original plan. “By building in 12 patient rooms, rather than the original six, we’ll achieve an economy of scale that will make operating the residence less expensive,” explained Coastal Hospice President Alane Capen. The expanded project will require certification from the Maryland Health Care Commission, which is scheduled to render its decision before the end of the year. Groundbreaking will follow certification.
“There is still work to do,” Widdowson said. “But today we’re celebrating and saying thank you. This is a landmark achievement for Coastal Hospice. We are taking this opportunity to thank Macky and Pam and also the hundreds of donors who have invested in this campaign.”
“There is a real need for a hospice residence, particularly here in Worcester County,” Macky Stansell told those gathered for the celebration. “Pam and I are happy we can help and humbled by this honor.”
Founded in 1980, Coastal Hospice is a nonprofit health care organization that cares for individuals facing life-limiting conditions but who want to remain as active and engaged as possible. Coastal Hospice cares for patients in their home, nursing home, assisted living facility or at Coastal Hospice at the Lake. The organization serves Wicomico, Worcester, Dorchester and Somerset counties.
Pam and Macky Stansell in front of the hospice residence that will bear their name — The Macky and Pam Stansell House at Coastal Hospice at the Ocean — in honor of their support for the project. Once opened, the Ocean Pines facility will serve hospice patients from across the Lower Shore: Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties. 
Dirk Widdowson, board member and co-chair of the capital campaign steering committee for Coastal Hospice at the Ocean, addresses the crowd gathered on June 22 to announce the building will be named for the Stansells in honor of their contributions to the project. Left to right: Coastal Hospice President Alane Capen, Coastal Hospice Chairman of the Board Mike Dunn, Widdowson, Macky Stansell, and Pam Stansell.
The capital campaign steering committee for The Macky and Pam Stansell House at Coastal Hospice at the Ocean gathers on the front porch of the new facility that is expected to open in 2018. Left to right: Coastal Hospice President Alane Capen, capital campaign
steering committee co-chairs and board members Dirk Widdowson and Macky Stansell, board member Byron Braniff, chairman of the board Mike Dunn, and committee members Gayle Widdowson, and Marion Connolly.
