[1977]  Dr. Billy Dunlap, a hematologist and oncologist in Raleigh, reads an article on the hospice movement.  He realizes the need for services for terminal patients in the Triangle.  He attends an organizational meeting of a grassroots movement for hospice care in the Triangle also attended by Kathleen Townsend, a primary-care nurse at Rex Hospital. They become the founding members of the first Board of Directors of Hospice of Wake County, along with Derenda James, a nurse at Wake Med.

 

[1978]  A U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare task force reports that “the hospice movement ... is a viable concept and one which holds out a means of providing more humane care for Americans dying of terminal illness while possibly reducing costs. As such, it is the proper subject of federal support.”

 

[1979]  Hospice of Wake County (HOWC) is started by Dr. Dunlap, with one staff member and 20 volunteers. The first patient is admitted, a young child with leukemia. Five more patients are served that year.

 

[1980-2000]  HOWC institutes a popular annual fundraiser, Oktoberfest.

 

[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.

 

[1988]  HOWC receives Medicare.

 

[1989]  HOWC has 25 staff members and 227 volunteers, serves 257 patients, and makes 9,600 patient visits.

 

[1990]  HOWC yearly budget exceeds $1 million for the first time.

 

[1991]  The federal government enacts the Patient Self-Determination Act, giving patients the right to detail their care choices when admitted to a hospital.

 

[1992]  Horizons Home Health program launched.  Hospice of Wake County Board of Directors creates Hospice of Wake County Foundation, Inc.

 

[1993]  HOWC’s Reflections program, a child-focused grief counseling service, is initiated.

 

[1998]  Hospices nationwide report declining average and median lengths of stay for patients, indicating that patients are not being referred to hospice soon enough.

 

[1999]  HOWC has 60 staff members and 250 volunteers, serves 690 patients, and makes 23,700 patient visits.

 

[2005]  Horizons Palliative Care program launched.  Marketing begins on Build Hospice capital campaign private phase.

 

[2007]  North Carolina’s Council of State awards 8.7 acres of land for the area’s first independent, free-standing hospice facility to be built off Trinity Road, Cary.

[2009]  HOWC celebrates 30 years on February 6 with staff, volunteers, Board members and special guests.  In attendance were two of the founders, Dr. Billy Dunlap and Kathleen Townsend.