By TRACEY DRURY
tdrury@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1609

Hospice Buffalo received final approvals from the state Department of Health on changes to its downtown facility that will enable it to serve up to 400 patients annually.

The affiliate of the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care will transition its St. John Baptist Hospice Buffalo House into inpatient beds, which will allow it to serve more individuals with acute conditions.

Currently, the site on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is certified to provide residential care, which allows for about 40 individuals to be served on an annual basis.

The Hospice Buffalo House opened in 2004 on Maple Street in the Fruit Belt neighborhood through a partnership with St. John Baptist Church.

Beds at the facility, along with beds at hospice's Cheektowaga campus, are usually full, officials said.

Individuals needing residential care will still be served in Cheektowaga, as well as at private homes through the agency's home-care division or area nursing home companies.

Final approval was issued by the DOH director Dec. 30, following prior approvals by a subcommittee and the Public Health and Health Planning Council.