Aurora House, Special Care Facility for End of Life Care

“Any decent society cares for its most vulnerable members, including children and the elderly.”  Marcia Angell, MD.

Aurora House is a licensed Special Care Facility which provides a residence with compassionate end of life.  This house offers love and compassion through trained community volunteers and staff of nursing assistants.  This care is provided in a home-like atmosphere, with clean, comfortable, private rooms.

Aurora means “dawn” in Spanish – it is the light of a new day.  Aurora House is the light for those who are approaching the end of life…the light which offers dignity, compassion, and respect.

Mission Statement:

Aurora House recognizes dying as a part of the normal process of living and focuses on respect and compassion in preparation for death.  Its mission is to provide care for persons in the last phase of incurable disease, so they can approach death with dignity, comfort and peace.

The idea began as a dream of Dr. Rafael Rodriguez, Founding Director.  “When I was Medical Director of a local Hospice, I visited a lot of patients and their families in their homes.  Sometimes I saw patients in the process of dying who were living in extreme poverty.  They had not been bathed, they were lying in dirty sheets, and they hadn’t eaten in days, because they didn’t have the resources or families who could take care of them.  We were taking those patients to McAllen, to the Comfort House, but at the same time, we were separating the patients from their families and friends” said Dr. Rodriguez.  “We needed a place in the Mid-Valley area where families could visit so patients wouldn’t feel abandoned.”

Aurora House is available to Mid-Valley residents who have been diagnosed as terminally ill and have a life expectancy of less than three months.  In collaboration with Hospice programs throughout the Rio Grande Valley, Aurora House provides shelter and personal care while the Hospice team provides medical care.  Aurora House provides both the patient and family with companionship, homemaker services, personal care training and compassionate support.  Each patient must be enrolled in a Hospice Program of their choice. The medical care (which includes management of the symptoms, pain, medical equipment, medications, IV’s or Injections, wound care), is supplied by the Hospice program through an interdisciplinary team of Physicians, Nurses, Chaplain, and Social Workers.

Aurora House follows Hospice protocol where the goal is not to cure, but to alleviate and lessen the severity and pain of illness.  We also embrace the End of Life philosophy which targets the four different areas of pain:  Emotional, Social, Spiritual and Physical.

Aurora House is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.  It is not affiliated or related to any hospital or religious organization.  Comfort House of McAllen helped facilitate the opening of Aurora House.  With the expertise and support of Comfort House Administrator, Mary Botello, Aurora House admitted its first patient in June of 2007.  Our license was approved and obtained through the Department of Health in Austin, and we are licensed for 4 patients.

Our remodeled home at 18th Street and Milano Road in Weslaco continues to need donations to complete the purchase.  Donations may be mailed to Aurora House Foundation, P. O. Box 976, Weslaco, TX  78599 or dropped off at the home.  We are currently accepting monetary donations, in-kind donations and we will need many caring volunteers to keep this dream alive.  If you are interested in helping, please call the Director, Kathy Scheuerman, at (956) 973-9690.