The evolution of hospice care

The evolution of hospice care 
The Journal; by Dr. Sarah Phillips, Medical Director, Hospice of the Panhandle; 5/18/25 
Historians believe that the first hospices originated in Malta around 1065, dedicated to caring for the ill and dying enroute to and from the Holy Land. The term “hospice” referred to places of shelter for travelers, particularly in medieval Europe. The moder hospice movement began to gain momentum in the 1960’s with Dame Cicely Saunders’s establishment of St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, which emphasized comfort and quality of life for patients and their families. This idea of specialized care for the dying was first introduced to the United States during a lecture at Yale University in 1963.

• In the early 1970’s the first national hearings on the subject of death with dignity were conducted by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.
• In 1978, the National Hospice Organization was established and the U.S. Department of Health, Education, ...
• In 1979, The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) initiated demonstration programs at 26 hospices in 16 states ...
• In 1982 Congress includes a provision to create a Medicare hospice benefit ...
• Today, hospice care is offered in a variety of settings, including inpatient facilities, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and patients’ homes. ...