Fact Sheet

Get Flash to see this player.

Fact Sheet

Hospice of the North Shore was founded in 1978 as a community based, all-volunteer organization with a mission to provide emotional support and practical assistance to terminally ill patients and their families.

Since becoming Medicare certified in 1989, Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston has served over 25,000 patients.

In 2010, Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston served 2,402 patients, and became the largest not-for-profit hospice in the state.

Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston provides patient care regardless of ability to pay.

Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston has grown to nearly 275 employees and 250 volunteers.

Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston provides care to residents of 86 cities and towns on the North Shore and Greater Boston Area.

The number of patients Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston cares for daily has grown dramatically, from 97 patients in 2000 to 320 patients in 2010.

Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston serves people with a broad range of diagnoses, including cancer, cardiac disease, Alzheimer’s, COPD, renal failure and AIDS.

Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston patients range in age from 1 to 107 with an average patient age of 80.

With the opening of the Kaplan Family Hospice House in 2005, Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston introduced a new era of end-of-life care in Massachusetts. The Kaplan Family Hospice House is the first hospice facility licensed to provide an inpatient level of hospice care, a level of care that is not available at home. In 2010 the new Ayer Anderson Wing of the Kaplan Family Hospice House was added, increasing the number of patient suites to 20.

In July 2002, Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston created Palliative Care of the North Shore & Greater Boston, a palliative care consultation service.

In 2001, Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston opened the Center for Grief & Healing to expand its bereavement services to anyone who has experienced loss, regardless of whether their loved ones received hospice care. In 2010, the center served more than 2,100 people of all ages and was renamed the Bertolon Center for Grief & Healing.