In 1965, The Dean of Yale School of Nursing invited Cicely Saunders to visit the school to teach about her pioneering work with people who were dying. As a result the modern hospice movement can be traced back to 1967 when Cicely Saunders, the founder of the modern hospice movement founded St. Christopher's in London, England.

In 1969, Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, published a book titled "On Death and Dying", that identified the five stages that terminally ill patients progress through; advocated home care for the dying versus treatment in an institutional setting and that patients should have a choice.

It wasn't until 1974, when legislation was first introduced that would provide federal funds to support hospice programs. That same year the first hospice was established in America in Branford, Connecticut. The Connecticut Hospice, Inc. began providing hospice services in the home.

The hospice movement began making a viable name for itself as a "means of providing more humane care for Americans dying of a terminal illness", then more hospices became available across the country. In 1982, Congress included a provision to create a Medicare hospice benefit.

Hospice has continued to provide quality, professional end-of-life care to Americans as they face death.

For a complete sketch of the historical benchmarks of the Hospice Movement visit the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization web site for the article History of Hospice Care.

Hospice of McDowell County, Inc. began as dream of a handful of community volunteers in 1993. This group hired the Executive Director in 1994 and began the long, arduous mission of developing a ministry through Hospice guidelines. This ministry has grown to what is now a thriving tradition serving the needs of the family's facing life-threatening illnesses.

Currently Statistics for Hospice of McDowell County, Inc.

Back to Top