Hospice/palliative care visionary dies at age 91

Florence S. Wald, whose vision of bringing the terminally ill peaceof mind and, to whatever extent possible, freedom from pain led to theopening of the first palliative care hospice in the United States, died on Saturday at her home in Branford, Conn. She was 91.  Florence S. Wald, right, being inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1998. She was introduced by Lyn Bedell.  Mrs. Wald, who was dean of the Yale UniversitySchool of Nursing from 1959 to 1966, was the prime mover, in 1974, instarting the Connecticut Hospice, the nation’s first home-care programfor the terminally ill. Six years later, a 44-patient hospice — wherethe dying could be comforted by their loved ones around the clock andwhere the staff would do what it could to alleviate suffering — openedin Branford.

“This hospice became a model for hospice care inthe United States and abroad,” the publication Yale Nursing Matterssaid this week, adding that Mrs. Wald’s role “in reshaping nursingeducation to focus on patients and their families has changed theperception of care for the dying in this country.”

There are now more than 3,000 hospice programs in the United States, serving about 900,000 patients a year.

Source/more:  New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/health/14wald.html