Hospice of Charleston–It’s About How You Live

May 16, 2006: Today, the Club learned more about an important resource in our community: Hospice of Charleston. Hospice of Charleston is a nonprofit organization which provides care for those diagnosed with terminal illnesses. The new Hospice of Charleston facility, which officially opens next month, is located on Wando Park Boulevard in Mount Pleasant. The 20-bed facility serves patients and their families from all over the Lowcountry and enables the patient to focus on living their life as best they can and not focus on dying. To quote our speaker and fellow Rotarian, Executive Director Kit Cosgrove, “It’s not about how you die, but how you live.” This beautiful new facility embodies this principal in its design, including outdoor living spaces, wide hallways for relaxing outside patient rooms, and patient services including massage and nutritional counseling.

Hospice of Charleston was started in 1978 by a grassroots initiative of local doctors, nurses, clergy and social workers involved in providing care and counseling to patients who were terminally ill. Through the years, legislation enabled hospice to be funded by Medicare, and eventually to be provided on an inpatient basis. Hospice of Charleston underwent a $3 million capital campaign in 2000 and by 2002 was awarded its Certificate of Need for a new inpatient facility which was completed this year. Hospice of Charleston offers six programs of care including home care for those patients not quite ready for hospice, as well as a KidsPath program for children and teenagers coping with illness or loss. Hospice of Charleston’s Bereavement program offers support for family and friends following the death of a loved one. They also sponsor grief counseling and support groups for anyone in the community who has experienced the death of a loved one.

We are proud of Kit’s work with Hospice of Charleston, and the organization boasts many Past Presidents who are members of our Club. What a wonderful resource we have in our community and a beautiful facility of which we can be proud knowing it will bring comfort and dignity to those spending their last hours there.

For more information, please visit www.hospiceofcharleston.org.

Submitted by Amy Riley, Keyway Committee