U.S. #3276
33¢ Hospice Care
Issue Date: February 9, 1999
City: Largo, FL
Printed By: Banknote Corp. of America
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: Serpentine die cut 11.4
Color: Multicolored
Today, nearly 3,000 hospice organizations in the United States and Puerto Rico serve approximately 400,000 people. By combining the efforts of skilled workers and trained volunteers, hospice has become a family-centered, home-based concept of health care for those dying of an incurable illness.
Hospice was first introduced in this country by Dr. Cicely Saunders, who established St. Christopher’s Hospice in London. In 1974, a nurse in Connecticut made America’s first hospice visit to the home of a terminally ill patient.
The hospice concept aims at easing the patient’s physical and psychological pain. Then the person can make the most of his or her remaining time. Working as a team to achieve this goal are family members, doctors, nurses, social workers, clergy members, and volunteers.
In 1980, a hospice was established in Glasgow as a community outreach project. On the occasion of the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, the city of Glasgow named the foundation the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. A tireless charity worker, Princess Diana used her sudden celebrity to fight for the causes she believed in, including care of terminally ill patients.