HEALTAHR TCARE
LIFE-CHANGING
HOSPICE CARE
40 YEARS & COUNTING
By Rafael J. Sciullo
MARCH/APRIL 2017 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 137
Hospice care is a specialized kind
of holistic care that comforts
people of all ages and diagnoses
when a cure is no longer
possible. It is provided in many settings
by interdisciplinary teams of expert
professionals and trained volunteers who
ease the physical, emotional and spiritual
pain and stress of patients and families.
Dr. Cicely Saunders opened the first
modern hospice in a suburb of London in
1967 and the first hospice in the United
States opened in Connecticut in 1974.
Fortunately for us, in 1977 our founder
Bunny Flarsheim brought together a small
group of volunteers in Pinellas County
and decided our community deserved to
receive this same specialized care when
facing the end of life. We were one of the
first nonprofit hospices to open in the
United States and clearly on the leading
edge of this monumental way of caring for
people in their final days. Our founding
volunteers believed that the dying and
their families should be embraced with
compassionate care, dignity and comfort
and that no one should die alone or in pain.
We are truly honored to be celebrating
40 years of serving our community with
hospice care and the other specialized
programs and services we’ve developed
along the way — and to continue the legacy
of our founders. As you can imagine, we’ve
gone through many changes in 40 years.
We’ve added numerous programs for
children, the bereaved and those in longterm
care facilities; we’ve partnered with
numerous local healthcare organizations
to create innovative solutions to meet
our community’s needs, including home
care and palliative care; we’ve created
a program for all-inclusive care for the
elderly that includes a state-of-the-art
day center; we’ve committed to serving
people infected or affected by HIV and
evolving needs and remain a strong, viable
community resource.
In December, we announced the
formation of a strategic alliance between
Suncoast Hospice and Tidewell Hospice,
our neighbors to the south. Combined,
we serve more than 16,000 patients
and families each year. This alliance
positions both nonprofit hospices to deal
with the changing health care landscape
through shared best practices, purchasing
efficiencies and expanding our role in
serious illness, advanced illness and
end-of-life care. The alliance will also
drive more collaborative and innovative
partnerships between the two companies
and local health care providers. Additional
nonprofit, community-based end-of-life
care organizations may join the alliance
in the future.
Hospice embodies a spirit of caring
which is combined with compassion and
commitment, embracing patients, families
and loved ones. At Empath Health, we
strive to increase our dedication, perfect
our skills and share our passion with a
pervasive spirit of caring and kindness
in all we do.
And thanks to all of you—our
community and thousands of volunteers
and donors who have made it possible
for us to be your experts in life-changing
care for 40 years. This milestone would
not be possible without your dedication
and passion for our mission.
For more information about Empath
Health, visit EmpathHealth.org or call
(727) 467-7423. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Rafael J. Sciullo is
president and CEO of Empath Health, a
nonprofit integrated network of care for
those affected by chronic or advanced illness.
For more information about services, call
(727) 467-7423 or visit EmpathHealth.org.
Rafael J. Sciullo
recently merged with Francis House in
Tampa to strengthen the reach of those
services; and we began extensive advance
care planning services to help individuals
in our community ensure their health care
wishes will be honored at the end of life.
While we have clearly experienced
hundreds of changes in our past 40 years
— and served tens of thousands of patients
and families during that time, health care
continues to change at a rapid pace. In 2014,
Suncoast Hospice created Empath Health
as a parent company to bring greater
awareness to the vast array of services
we provide our community. At the same
time, Suncoast Hospice became known
as an affiliate member of Empath Health.
Hospice remains the cornerstone program
of Empath Health and we continue to
create innovative healthcare services
and programs to meet our community’s