Marquette has a new friend in the College of Nursing, as the college and the Visiting Nursing Association have formed a $7.5 million partnership.

A donation from the Joseph and Vera Zilber Foundation to the VNA will give more than a new hospice center to the elderly and sick youths in Wisconsin, it will give the College of Nursing a new opportunity to study after-life care.

The foundation gave a $1 million donation to the VNA of Wisconsin for the construction of a new 18-bed hospice center scheduled to be built at 7620 Honey Creek Parkway in Wauwatosa, according to a news brief by the Milwaukee Business Journal.

It will be the first hospice center in southeastern Wisconsin dedicated to serving both children and the elderly.

Marquette's College of Nursing will have a hand in the $7.5 million project, forming a partnership with the VNA to create the Institute for End of Life Care at the new hospice.

The hospice center will provide opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to apply their classroom education to real life situations from various disciplines for the care of the elderly, according to the news brief.

Judith Fitzgerald Miller, associate dean for graduate programs and research, explained some of the tasks Marquette students will be doing when the new hospice center is opened.

The VNA "is creating a clinical facility where there will be opportunities for clinical practice," Miller said. "It will give Marquette students the opportunity to give after-life care for the elderly and their families."

Miller was optimistic about students being able to get hands on experience in the new VNA facility.

"The new VNA hospice will be a site where we have a place that students can get first hand experience in the care for people in end of life situations," Miller said. "It will also give us a facility where we can conduct research and discover new knowledge about end of life care."

Miller then explained the goals the Marquette program will have in the Zilber Family Hospice.

"We want to provide education for the students working with end of life care," Miller said. "We want to provide community education for those working with families who have people in the hospice and we want to conduct research while there, and gain knowledge previously unknown about end of life care."

Miller was unsure of any time frame that may be in place for the completion of the new hospice center.

"Our family learned a great deal about the importance of hospice when we required the care of a hospice for a family member a number of years ago," said Marcy Zilber Jackson, the daughter of Joseph and Vera.

"We learned it is critical to have this type of end of life care staffed by dedicated professionals that offer families a setting in which to share the final moments of life with their loved ones."

G. Edwin Howe, president and CEO of Aurora Health Care, the parent company for the VNA of Wisconsin, said he was grateful for the Zilber Foundation's charitable showing.

"The Zilber family's generosity enables us to continue finding innovative solutions that lead a new standard in end of life care," Howe said. "The Zilber Family Hospice represents a new national model in hospice care."

President of the VNA Susan Ela praised the efforts of the Joseph and Vera Zilber Foundation for its present and past works.

"The Zilber family has been a leader in many significant projects throughout the community," Ela said. "Their gift offers a lasting legacy to the Zilbers' contribution to our quality of life and ensures greater numbers of children and adults can experience end of life care with the respect and dignity they deserve."