Foundation plans to break ground for new compassionate care facility

  • Published
  • By Fisher/Nightingale Houses Inc.
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  The Fisher House Foundation will break ground in early 2008 to replace the existing Nightingale House, a compassionate care facility on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, with a new Fisher House. 

With construction expected to last eight months, the new facility will be located on the grounds directly behind the existing Fisher House on Schlatter Drive, within walking distance of the Wright-Patterson Medical Center. 

Both the Wright-Patterson AFB Fisher and Nightingale Houses provide an opportunity for military families to stay together and support each other when a loved one is undergoing medical treatment, providing physical and emotional support to servicemembers and their families. 

The Nightingale House is a base house converted from two three-bedroom units into an eight-bedroom facility. The biggest drawback of this house is that it is not handicapped-accessible in any way. In addition, only two of the eight bedrooms have private baths, and the other six share two upstairs hallway baths. The new Fisher House will be a single story 12 bedroom facility with 12 handicapped-accessible and Americans with Disabilities Act compliant bathrooms. It will be approximately 8,000 square feet with two living rooms, a kitchen and dining room and more laundry capabilities. 

By moving from the Nightingale House to the new Fisher House, it will also add 1,460 bed nights a year, bringing capacity to 7,665 bed nights a year. 

The base opened the Nightingale House in May of 1990 by converting a base house to a compassionate care facility, making it the first compassionate care house in Department of Defense. In 1991, Zach and Elizabeth Fisher were asked to build one Ronald McDonald-type house at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Maryland.
What started as a request to build one house has turned into 38 homes at 25 locations worldwide. The operation continues today with the Fisher House Foundation planning to build five new houses each year over the next 10 years. 

Wright-Patterson was previously selected to receive a new house in 1997; however, that offer was placed on hold because of changing mission requirements at the Wright-Patterson Medical Center at that time. In November 2006, the Air Force surgeon general sent a letter to the Fisher House Foundation and placed the new Wright-Patterson house as the Air Force's number one priority. The Fisher House Foundation has made an offer to build this house. 

The projected cost of the new house is $2 million. The Fisher House Foundation has asked the Fisher/ Nightingale Houses Inc. to try to raise $1 million toward the new house; however, regardless of the status of the capital campaign, they plan to break ground and construct the house. In order to achieve this goal, the FNHI is forming a capital campaign committee and may research, interview and hire a capital campaign management company. The campaign is expected to kick off in this summer. 

In 2006, the two Wright-Patterson compassionate care houses assisted more than 750 families of all ranks, branches of the armed forces and all components, including active duty, Guard, Reserve and retired. The houses have provided for thousands of families in almost 17 years of existence. 

For more information, contact Chris Stanley, executive director of the FNHI, at 372-5784 or 672-8724. The FNHI is a private non-profit, 501(c)3 organization, registered in the State of Ohio (federal tax ID number: 31-1313382) as well as with the Dayton/Miami Valley Better Business Bureau Charitable Advisory Service, dedicated to supporting the Fisher Houses at Wright-Patterson. It is not part of the Department of Defense or any of its components, and it has no governmental status.