HOSPICE COUNCIL OF NORTHERN OHIO - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The HOSPICE COUNCIL OF NORTHERN OHIO promoted and coordinated home care of the terminally ill in northeast Ohio from 1979-84. It resulted from planning efforts by the CANCER CENTER, INC., OF NORTHEAST OHIO, and later by the FEDERATION FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING and the METROPOLITAN HEALTH PLANNING CORP. Part of a larger national hospice movement during the 1970s, the Hospice Council was formed to coordinate the development of hospice programs in Greater Cleveland and the surrounding counties (Lake, Geauga, Lorain, and Medina). The programs for the care of the terminally ill were family-oriented and community-based, with consumer representation on the Board of Trustees. Institutional providers (i.e., hospitals) of hospice services were not well represented, however, which resulted in no sense of provider ownership. Initial funding for the Hospice Council came from the Cleveland foundation, the Saint Ann foundation, and the Gund foundation, with some corporate support and community contributions. However, there was no ongoing source of funds, as the council did not provide services. The council began to establish standards of hospice care. The Hospice Council was dissolved in June 1984 for varied and debatable reasons. J. Kearney Shanahan and Frank Weakley, M.D., served as presidents of the Board of Trustees, and Linda J. Proffitt was the council's executive director.

A Plan for a Hospice System of Care for Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, and Medina Counties (1979).

See also MEDICINE, HOSPITALS & HEALTH PLANNING.

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