Vitas Hospice Charitable Fund

About the Foundation for End-of-Life Care

The Need

It is estimated that less than one fourth of the terminally ill patients who could benefit from hospice ever use it. This lack of access denies patients and their families the medical, social and spiritual support necessary for a quality end of life experience. The Foundation for End-of-Life Care, a not-for-profit organization established by Vitas Healthcare Corporation, was created to improve end-of-life care for individual patients and their families, while supporting fundamental societal change.

The Purpose

The Foundation will provide resources to advance the quality of end-of-life care in several ways:

Support of the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life—The Foundation is a founding benefactor of the Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life, the nation’s first comprehensive institute for the advancement of research, education and caregiving for those near death.

Research Grants and Partnerships—The Foundation awards grants to fund promising research studies at sites throughout the country, including hospices, teaching hospitals, other providers and academic research centers.

“Special Needs” Grants for Individual Patients and Families - The Foundation makes grants to fund extraordinary expenses that lie outside the realm of hospice care but are critically important to the comfort or peace of mind of patients and their families.

Hospice Grants to Share Best Practices—The Foundation makes grants to hospice providers to facilitate the development and sharing of “best practice” caregiving models and techniques.

Assistance for Hospice Foundation of America Programs—The Foundation assists the Hospice Foundation of America in implementing specific programs, including clergy-to-clergy services, grief counseling activities and the annual National Bereavement Teleconference.

Supporting the Foundation

• The Foundation’s founding corporate support came from Vitas Healthcare Corporation.
• The Foundation accepts gifts and grants from corporations, foundations and other organizations, as well as individual donors.
• The Foundation officers include Chairman/CEO Hugh Westbrook, Secretary Dolores Messick, and Vice Chairperson /Treasurer Esther Colliflower.

Vitas Healthcare Corporation

Miami-based Vitas, the largest hospice provider in the United States, annually cares for more than 40,000 patients as well as offering bereavement services to more than 100,000 people annually across the country.

“Special Needs” Program for Individual Patients and Families

Perhaps the most compelling and concrete examples of how the Foundation's resources are used to make a difference in people's lives fall under the category of "Special Needs." The Foundation makes grants to fund extraordinary expenses that lie outside the realm of hospice care but are nevertheless critically important to the patient's comfort or peace of mind.

The examples are many. For the patient dying in the middle of summer in a stifling apartment, the Foundation provides funds for a window air conditioner. For another patient, the Foundation makes it possible for beloved family members living at a distance to fly to the patient's bedside in time for final farewells.

Tips on Grieving

The Foundation has launched its own efforts to assist patients and families with the grieving process. Here are some recommended tips on dealing with grief:

• Talk to a caring pastor, counselor or friend who's experienced a similar loss.
• Join a bereavement support group.
• Read books on grief.
• Write letters to the person you have lost to express your feelings or as a way of saying good-bye.
• Keep a journal as a record of your own journey of grief.
• Create a memorial for the person who died: plant a tree, create a memory book or photo album. Children often like to collect items for a memento box.
• Commemorate the person you lost on special days, such as birthdays, holidays and anniversaries. Light a candle, play a song and talk about your loved one.
• Do something special for yourself.