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A Historical Perspective of Hospice
The word hospice can be traced back to medieval times when it referred to a place of shelter and rest for weary or ill travelers on a long journey.
The History of Hospice Maui
- 1978: Elizabeth Kübler-Ross holds a workshop on Maui and people become inspired to take action.
- 1979: A hospice steering committee meets and as a result Hospice Maui begins to form.
- 1980: The McCoy Foundation gives a startup grant and Hospice Maui's first Executive Director is hired.
- 1981: Hospice Maui incorporates and files for IRS tax exempt status.
- 1986: Hospice Maui's holds its first annual Fourth of July fireworks show as a fundraising event.
- 1988: A donor leaves a six-figure unrestricted gift, which gives Hospice Maui more stability.
- 1989: Maui County grants Hospice Maui a 55-year lease on a vacant, 4-acre lot near Maui Memorial hospital.
- 1990: Hospice Maui's first Executive Director, Charlotte Kuwanoe, leaves and is replaced by Greg LaGoy.
- 1991: The developer of the Kea Lani in Wailea donates its sample suite, which is then moved to Wailuku.
- 1991: Hospice Maui becomes Medicare Certified.
- 1993: We move from the old Maui News quonset hut into the newly donated building.
- 1995: A former volunteer leaves a large bequest, designated for "capital improvement".
- 1998: The process begins that results in the first strategic plan in almost ten years.
- 2000: A new multi-room meeting facility is finished, dedicated, and put into service.
- 2003: An unexpected bequest provides funds for many needed building & landscape improvements.
What does not show up in our neat, bullet-point list, is the legacy of passion, compassion, and caring left by the hearts and hands of those who formed and staffed and volunteered for all these years.
Notable Events In Hospice History
- 1963: Dame Cicely Saunders, the physician who founded St. Christopher's, the first modern hospice, introduces the idea of specialized care for the dying to the United States during a 1963 visit to Yale University.
- 1967: The term hospice is first applied to specialized care for dying patients.
- 1969: Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' book, On Death And Dying, is published. Kübler-Ross' book, based on more than 500 interviews with dying patients, identifies the five stages through which many terminally ill patients progress. In her book, Kübler-Ross makes a plea for home care as the alternative to treatment in an institutional setting, and argues that patients should have a choice and the ability to participate in the decisions that affect their destiny.
- 1972: Dr. Kübler-Ross testifies at the first national hearings on the subject of death with dignity, which are conducted by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.
- 1974: Senators Frank Church and Frank E. Moss introduce legislation that would provide federal funds for hospice programs but the legislation was not enacted.
- 1982: Congress includes a provision to create a Medicare hospice benefit in the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, with a 1986 sunset provision.
- 1986: The Medicare Hospice Benefit is made permanent by Congress and hospices are given a 10% increase in reimbursement rates, making hospice care available to terminally ill nursing home residents.
- 1993: Hospice care is included as a nationally guaranteed benefit under President Clinton's health care reform proposal and becomes an accepted part of the health care continuum.
- 1999: The U.S. Postal Service issues a Hospice Care commemorative stamp.
- 2004: Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross passes away from natural causes.
