By Ann Mitchell
Thursday, November 9, 2006

Montgomery Hospice this year is celebrating 25 years of offering comfort and companionship to residents during their final days. The nonprofit hospice offers a range of services and has helped thousands of people, regardless of their ability to pay.

Ann Mitchell, president and chief executive of the organization since 1998, writes about its role and mission in caring for those who are dying.

It's no secret that Montgomery County is a good place to live. Opportunities to work, study and play are among the many reasons people from all over the world make Montgomery County their home.

However, there is more to quality of life in our community than even longtime residents may realize.

Since 1981, Montgomery Hospice has had the privilege of providing "comfort care" to county residents at the end of life. What we have learned in that quarter-century of caring confirms that this is a good place to live, through all stages of life.

Among the lessons that caring for the dying has taught us about living:

We're healthy. Montgomery County has the second-lowest death rate in Maryland, trailing only much-smaller Howard County. Deaths in Montgomery County have held steady at about 5,500 per year since 2000, even as our total population has grown to almost 1 million. This notable indicator of public health shows that we are a vibrant, vital population.

We use comfort care. Many Montgomery County residents seek the best possible quality of life, even as life is fleeting.

A remarkable 22 percent of residents who die locally each year choose Montgomery Hospice to provide comfort and compassion during their last months or days. Compared with national norms, this use of comfort care is high and shows that our area is home to advanced, community-based care.

We love to be home. For growing numbers of Montgomery County residents nearing the end of life, living fully means living at home.

Montgomery Hospice's core service, Hospice at Home, has helped 15,000 local patients live their final months or days in their own residences. In houses, apartments, nursing homes and other facilities, Hospice at Home helps people live out their lives with dignity and in familiar surroundings.

Neighbors help neighbors. Pioneering volunteers founded Montgomery Hospice in a church basement. Today, volunteers serve on Montgomery Hospice care teams beside professional caregivers, including doctors, nurses, social workers, counselors, chaplains, nursing assistants and grief counselors.

Volunteers' ethic of bringing humanity and heart to neighbors in need has never been stronger: More than a quarter of the 600 area residents who have ever been Montgomery Hospice volunteers are serving as volunteers today.

Facilities are excellent. For seriously ill people who cannot live at home and need the help of comfort care experts around the clock, our community offers Casey House. The 14-bedroom Rockville residence has served more than 2,000 patients since it opened in 1999. Casey House is the only all-hospice medical facility in our area and the kind of resource most communities don't have at all.

Innovation is high. Biotech isn't the only cutting-edge medical endeavor in Montgomery County. In 2001, demand for comfort care among patients at early stages of illness prompted Montgomery Hospice to launch Palliative Medicine Consultants. This specialized medical practice provides pain and symptom relief to a range of patients, including those pursuing alternative cures and clinical trials.

Diversity defines us. Montgomery Hospice's Office of Diversity and Multicultural Outreach is the educational service that keeps hospice connected to a dynamic, diverse population.

How diverse is our county? The Washington Post reported in August 2006 that 29 percent of us are foreign-born. That's the highest rate of any jurisdiction in the Washington area and the highest in Maryland. What's more, Montgomery County public schools have been majority Hispanic, Asian and African American for several years.

We help the grieving. People in Montgomery County support friends and co-workers who are coping with the death of a loved one. Every year, Montgomery Hospice's professional counselors help thousands of local children and adults adjust to loss. Often, it is kind and concerned teachers or friends who tell the bereaved person that this free counseling exists.

We are charitable. Philanthropy runs deep in Montgomery County, as 20 percent of Montgomery Hospice's budget comes from donations. Financial or in-kind gifts from area residents, civic organizations and businesses make it possible to serve patients and families with no other way of paying for compassionate end-of-life care.

Coping with illness and loss is never easy. If anything, the proliferation of similar-sounding but fundamentally different care options may confuse the public more than it helps. Hospices, like schools and churches, are not all alike. Families should choose wisely.

Montgomery Hospice's 25 years of service reveals that this community cares for all county residents, through all stages of life.