Hospice care facility expected to open in Bloomingdale

The owner of a Bloomingdale funeral home is hoping to open a new hospice care facility in the village later this year.

Frank Bucaro, who owns Bucaro Funeral Home & Cremation Center, has received permission from Bloomingdale officials to construct a 14,000-square-foot building to house Bucaro Family Hospice Services. Construction is expected to start in the spring.

The 14-suite facility would provide care for terminally ill patients. It would be located next to the existing funeral home, which opened a few months ago in a former bank building along the north side of Army Trail Road east of Merbach Drive. Bucaro said the two acres next to the funeral home were not being used and are a good location for the hospice.

"It has always been an idea of ours to provide the community a service that we feel was lacking in the immediate area," Bucaro said. He is in the process of getting a license from the state to operate the hospice.

"It can give comfort to those that need it the most," Bucaro said. "We sought out a need that would benefit the community the most by keeping everyone together. Our motto is to honor the life and legacy of those we've lost."

Bucaro said he got his start as a funeral director after a family friend helped him cope with the sudden death of his father while he was in college.

He said his work as a funeral director has changed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's difficult when a family can't grieve together. Having that constant support means everything," he said.

The hospice, which is expected to open later this year, will accept Medicare and private insurance. Medicare covers hospice care patients for up to six months.