Statements
Mission
The mission of Pinson Hospital Hospitality House is to be a home away from home for critically-ill patients and caregivers seeking life-saving treatment in Nashville hospitals by providing lodging, meals and other supportive services.
Background
Since opening in 1974, the Hospital Hospitality House has provided over 570,000 nights of lodging, meals and other supportive services to patients and families, serving guests from all 95 counties in Tennessee, all 50 states in the U.S. and 40 foreign countries. We serve all area hospitals including TriStar/Centennial, Children's, Metro General, Saint Thomas Midtown and West, Vanderbilt and the VA. PHHH was the first House of its kind in the United States and continues to be a model for hospitality houses opening around the country. The PHHH mission is to be a home away from home for patients and caregivers seeking medical treatment in Nashville hospitals by providing lodging, meals and other supportive services. We fulfill this mission through a variety of programs that directly serve our mission and priorities. According to an American Cancer Society study, more than 1,200 people per night in Nashville are considered "homeless" because they come for critical medical treatment but have no affordable place to stay. The enormous growth of local hospitals has far outpaced the growth of medical housing. A family in need of a transplant, heart surgery, cancer treatment, etc. cannot come to Nashville for life-saving treatment if family members/caregivers have no place to stay and no support system in place. A survey of hospital personnel clearly indicates the impact a caregiver or family member can have on the quality and speed of a patient's recovery. To quote from one survey participant: "There is a direct relationship between the support level and patient progress. Increased support is associated with better emotional outcomes which, in turn, can enhance medical well being. Lack of social support can contribute to depression, isolation and usually is associated with poorer outcomes both emotionally and physically." Social workers also consistently ranked housing or the lack of affordable/available housing for caregivers and families in their top three needs/frustrations in caring for patients and caregivers. In 2019 we opened the doors to the new Pinson Hospital Hospitality House which now serves 30 families each night vs 18.
Impact
We are proud of our 48-year history and to have served guests for over 570,000 nights. We are proud to say we served 950 families in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, we will serve over 1,000 families! 2021 brought many challenges and many blessings as we witnessed to the unimaginable medical situations of our guests; parents of micro preemies, stem cell transplant patients, heart transplant patients (babies and adults), cancer patients (adults and children), leukemia patients and so many more. We have also seen guests and patients from different backgrounds, races and faiths as well as many military families. ALL ARE WELCOME HERE! We will continue to work hard for our guests and provide a safe, warm and peaceful home away from home. We average a nightly waiting list of 50-60 families
Needs
According to an ACS study, more than 1,200 people a night in Nashville are considered homeless because they come for medical treatment and have no affordable lodging. Our own study says Nashville needs at least an additional 130 rooms to meet the financially-critical 25% of the need. Our needs become simple. 1. Financial Support 2. Physical Space 3. Volunteers 4. Board Members--We are always seeking to diversify our board by bringing on new areas of expertise and community influence, though our board is comprised of extremely influential members. PHHH is not a medical facility, but 80% of the guests in 2021 were patients staying with a caregiver while receiving out-patient treatment and staying at PHHH. These were most often organ transplant and stem cell transplant patients, cancer patients and other patients who were mandated by hospitals to be near the hospital due to the critical need for care. and need for proximity to the hospital.
CEO Statement
Nashville was named one of the top five cities in the world to see in 2013. "The new Nashville offers two things worth traveling for: a hot, trendy new food scene and its famous, funky music scene.' At PHHH, we know that there is another very important reason that people travel to Nashville- The Hospitals. Thousands of people make their way to Nashville every year for hospital visits. Most of these trips are last minute with no fancy hotel or restaurant reservations to look forward to. Often times some sort of tragedy forces our guests to leave their home and jobs behind, without a moment's notice. They arrive in Nashville exhausted and scared, not knowing what to expect or where they will stay. Before long, days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months. Additionally, for example, Vanderbilt is the #3 ranked hospital for heart transplants, both for adults and children. Consequently, we have families and patients from all over the world who come for heart transplants and are in desperate need of an affordable place to stay (and often for a long period of time). At PHHH, our mission is to provide a home away from home for these families and their patients. We are blessed to host 30 families every night through our main residence. We provide a clean private room for them to sleep in every night and meals throughout the week to keep them going. Our policy allows guests to stay as long as they need. We never ask them to leave. None of this would be possible without the countless PHHH volunteers and donors . PHHH does not receive any state or federal funding. Corporate grants and private donations allow us to help hundreds of families every year.
Board Chair Statement
Growing up, I spent a lot of time in hospitals and waiting rooms as my father battled illness. My mother and I lived sometimes in hotels that quickly became expensive. Most of us have had at least one experience of this nature. We've slept in a chair, grabbed a candy bar from a vending machine and waited anxiously for news about our loved one. What Pinson Hospital Hospitality House does is common sense, but it's also something most of us take for granted. Most of us can handle a night or two, maybe even a week, but how many of us could travel hours from home, even states away and spend days, weeks and months battling illness? How quickly the costs, both financial, physical and emotional, add up. A mother fighting cancer, a brother giving another brother a kidney, a father whose daughter was in a car crash, a wife having a heart transplant, young parents with preemie twins in the neonatal intensive care unit...these are the faces and stories of PHHH. These are the people we serve, and it is my privilege to hear from them at each board meeting, to visit with them while I'm on campus and to know that I honor my own parents and our family's experience with each person I help. I have never known a volunteer experience more rewarding or meaningful. As we open board meetings, we sometimes talk about why we choose to serve PHHH. Invariably, our board members have served larger, more visible organizations, and just as invariably, they talk of the personal connection PHHH offers, the unique way in which we can embrace the organization and know we are making a far greater difference than just reviewing financials or making an annual contribution. To serve these families is a powerful experience and one that changes us as much as it changes them. We are proud of having tripled the size of our residential program and of having added new programs, but there is still a greater need than we can meet, and like all nonprofits, we face the challenges of the current economy and people's uncertainty about when, where or if to invest their hard-earned dollars. We thank you for trusting us and for being a part of the PHHH family.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Health Care - Health Support |
| Secondary Category: | Housing, Shelter - |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
PHHH is located in Davidson County. To date, we have served patients and families from all 95 counties in Tennessee, all 50 states in the U.S. and 40 foreign countries. We serve any patient and family seeking medical treatment in a Nashville hospital. Though we are based in Nashville, our families need to come from outside Nashville (50 miles or more with the exception of NICU and stem cell patients).
| TN - Davidson |
