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Hospice celebrates 20 years in county

Hospice By The Bay, the second oldest hospice in the nation and the first in California, is celebrating its 20th year of serving patients and families in Sonoma County.

Hospice By The Bay, then Hospice of Marin, was chosen in 1992 by the Sonoma Valley Health Care District to purchase the Valley of the Moon Hospice in Sonoma. The success of these early hospice programs, started by community volunteers, helped launch the national hospice movement – a movement that changed how dying patients were cared for in America.

“Hospice By The Bay’s rich history as a pioneer and leader in bringing hospice care to America is something we’re very proud of,” said Sandra Lew, Hospice’s CEO. “The Sonoma residents who founded Valley of the Moon Hospice in 1979, share in that history as innovators and trailblazers. Since 1992, Hospice By The Bay has continued to honor their legacy and expand and grow our hospice and grief counseling services for patients and families throughout Sonoma County.”

Modeled on the groundbreaking work of Dame Cecily Saunders at St. Christopher’s Hospice in England, the first American hospice was founded in 1974. Saunders’ vision was to offer compassionate care to terminally ill patients to meet their medical, practical, emotional and spiritual needs, minimizing pain and suffering for those facing the end of life.

Hospice By The Bay was founded the next year, in 1975, as a grassroots effort by volunteers in Marin County to provide in-home hospice care and support for patients’ families and caregivers.

In 1978, a group of Sonoma physicians, including Dr. Paul Harrison and local residents, also saw the value of this new, holistic model of care for the dying.

After a presentation by medical director Dr. William Lamers, Jr., describing Hospice of Marin’s pioneering work, the group asked that a hospice program be opened through Sonoma Valley Hospital. Valley of the Moon Hospice was founded in 1979.

Prior to accepting the first patient later that year, Valley of the Moon Hospice staff and volunteers, including Harrison, attended Hospice of Marin’s training on hospice care and pain and symptom management. Hospice of Marin was known as a pioneer and leader in the nation’s growing hospice care movement, training physicians and others around the country on hospice care.

Hospice of Marin was also part of the national grassroots effort to educate legislators and partner with members of Congress, asking them to support legislation to fund hospice through Medicare to minimize the financial burden on families caring for seriously ill loved ones. The Medicare Hospice Benefit was made permanent in 1986 and now covers the majority of hospice services, including skilled nursing care, medical social services, counseling, home health aide services, prescriptions and needed medical equipment.

Hospice of Marin founder and former Hospice By The Bay CEO Mary Taverna said, “I feel a great sense of pride in our organization’s leadership and participation in hospice history. When we started, we never imagined the number of Americans who would be touched by our efforts.”

Taverna was a volunteer nurse at Hospice of Marin before being named CEO in 1978. She retired in 2008.

True to that founding tradition, Hospice of Marin, now Hospice By The Bay, continues to play a leadership role in efforts to ensure that quality, compassionate end-of-life care is considered a basic human right. Throughout the recent debates over health care reform, Hospice By The Bay continued to champion the right to hospice care access for all who choose it. With the option to choose hospice care, “all children and adults with serious illnesses can live out their lives in comfort, with dignity, in their home of choice, surrounded and supported by those they love,” said Lew.

Hospice By The Bay programs are funded through health care reimbursement and charitable donations from community members and businesses. For more information about Hospice By The Bay, call 415-927-2273 or visit www.hbtb.org.