Huntington Quarterly Autumn 2022

Hospice of Huntington marks 40 years of excellence in alleviating suffering and offering support to individuals and their families. By Katherine Pyles Four Decades of Caring A lot has changed forHospice of Huntington over the past 40 years. Founded by and trust — are central in every thing we do and in every service line we offer.” PHOTO COURTESY OF HOSPICE OF HUNTINGTON

Laura Darby in 1982 as a volunteer organization at a time when fewhad even heard of the word “hospice,” the organization began hiring staff in 1983 after hospice care became recognized as a Medicare benefit. The changes since then have been tremendous: evolving regulations, therapies and technologies — even family dynamics and community demographics. But one thing hasn’t changed, said President and CEO Melanie Hall. “What’s stayed the same has been our intent to be patient- and

Hospice’s early years were marked by overwhelming com munity support, which continues to this day. From the beginning, local individuals, churches and organiza tions donated supplies, office space and funds that allowed Hospice to provide end-of-life care regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. The organization quickly grew from a handful of volunteer nurses to a highly organized network of care providers, expanding beyondCabell County into Wayne, Lincoln and Mason counties inWestVirginia and

Founder Laura Darby sits with one of the original physicians, Dr. David Daniels.

family-focused,” said Hall, who has led the organization since 2014. “Folks are coming to hospice ser vices at a very difficult, very fragile time in their lives. Our role is to make sure our values — honesty, empathy, accountability, respect

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