Sidwell Friends School to buy DC hospice property; over 100 residents may be displaced

WASHINGTON - By all accounts, it's a done deal.

"The sale will close in December 2016," said Mary Mason.

The Washington Home and Community Hospices' Board of Directors has decided to sell its Upton Street property to Sidwell Friends School, the highly selective private school next door.

"My mother has been here for seven years," said Mason. "She had a catastrophic stroke after hip surgery when she was 67. I relocated her here from Kansas City and I will now have to find a new place for her to live."

Mason's mother is not alone.

"There are over 110 people who are going to be displaced by this move who are residents," said Mason.

Some of the residents have lived at The Washington Home for decades.

"Shame on Sidwell Friends for doing this to us, shame on them," said Ivan Mayfield. "This is a school that the president's girls go to and shame on Sidwell."

Mayfield's mother has lived here since 2009.

"At this point, she is familiar with The Washington Home," said Mayfield. "She happens to recognize the voices here, the people here, the place, the surroundings."

Emotional and confrontational is how an attendee described an emergency meeting Tuesday night at The Washington Home. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cox explained to residents on its website that they will concentrate on expanding its in-home hospice care where clients prefer to receive care during the last stages of their lives.

Sidwell Friends School reportedly says the deal is a "confidential matter."