The Bird House

The Bird House is a non-profit hospice home dedicated to providing compassionate and dignified end-of-life care of our guests and their loved ones in a peaceful, home-like environment.

Our Story

The Bird House, Hospice Home of Johnson County (HHJC), is nestled on a secluded wooded lot at 8 Lime Kiln Lane N.E., Iowa City, Iowa. Situated just north of Interstate 80 we are conveniently located ten minutes from the amenities of the communities of Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty. Among only thirty-four such Omega Home Network homes in the United States, we are the first and only independent residential hospice home in Iowa dedicated to compassionate end-of-life care. Here the dying and their families and friends are empowered to live out their individual definition of quality living through out the end-of-life journey and then claim a healthy grief process. Our History ​We have always needed a hospice home in Johnson County! Lois Bird recognized this when her husband, Gary, had to go to an out of town nursing home for his final days of cancer care. Gary had been a state patrolman for Johnson County for 27 years before his death.

In Gary’s memory, Lois dedicated herself to establishing a comfortable five bed hospice home available to all in Johnson County. A group of interested community members dreamed and planned for The Bird House from July 2011 till our opening of the home in April 2016. It was a journey of love and dedicated community involvement! In March of 2013, the early Board applied, and was accepted 13 months later, for IRS 501c3 nonprofit status. The Board diligently gathered information on the need for this home and talked to many community members and service groups. We worked with the State of Iowa to establish the first hospice home as a registered Iowa Boarding Home under state regulations. Finally, in October 2015, the Board of our nonprofit purchased the 4300 square foot house at 8 Lime Kiln Lane NE in Iowa City as the location for the Hospice Home of Johnson County. It was unanimously decided to name the home after Lois Bird and her family in honor of Lois’s tireless passionate work on the project. We work closely with four local hospice agencies to provide 24/7 quality end of life care at the home. 

Over 16 full and part-time hospice caregivers give the best personalized care to our guests. We partner with six local hospice agencies now, that list is on our Admission Guide page of this website. We are accompanied by more than 40 active volunteers each month helping in all aspects of keeping a home operating with love! ​In April of 2016, we opened the doors of The Bird House! 

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