History of Hospice

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The name “hospice” is certainly appropriate, though unless we have had experience with a loved one in hospice care, we may know little about what the organization actually does.

The word stems from the Latin “hospitium,” meaning guesthouse. It was originally used to describe a place of shelter and rest for weary and sick travelers returning from religious pilgrimages.

Hospice, as we know it, is a relative newcomer to the healthcare world. It became visible in the second half of the 20th century and took hold in America only in the past few decades.

Dr. Cicely Saunders began working with dying patients in the 1940s. She founded St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, England, the first modern-day hospice. Her inspiration came from a patient who requested words of comfort and acts of kindness and friendship. “We do not have to cure to heal,” she came to believe and to teach.

The formal launching and development of hospice is the result of an intense effort by Jonesboro’s Flo Jones, with the support of her husband Phil. She worked in and studied the hospice movement and visited the St. Christopher Hospice in London to see for herself. She constantly made the case for hospice care in our community and throughout the world. She cared deeply about helping people preserve their dignity as they approached death. St. Bernards became the sponsor of hospice care here in 1989 with the encouragement of Flo and Phil.

Hospice is provided as a nonprofit service of St. Bernards Healthcare and is supported through the St. Bernards Development Foundation.

“My mother was a driving force in the hospice movement here for years. She was a compassionate nurse and truly was doing hospice-like work before we had a formal hospice. My father was close to the Sisters and served on the hospital governing board, always advocating for hospice care, which everyone thought was a natural extension of our St. Bernards ministry. They both taught me that we need to be there for all who need us, whatever the circumstance, at this most difficult, scary time of life.”

Robert Jones