In medieval times, hospice was a place where weary travelers found shelter. Today, particularly in the United States, hospice is a concept of care that allows those facing life-limiting illnesses to die as they had lived their lives - in comfort, at peace and in control of their care and surroundings.

Hospice is a special kind of caring. It offers individuals with life-limiting illnesses a choice to live as fully as possible in the comfort and dignity of home ... a choice to stay in a warm, familiar environment, surrounded by family and friends ... a choice for persons to be in control of their own plan of care when they can no longer benefit from curative treatment.

Hospice is a concept of care that affirms life and regards dying as a natural process. It helps prepare individuals and family members for a peaceful death. Hospice care is centered on the needs of the patient as well as the family.

Good Shepherd Hospice provides expertise in pain and symptom control, and seeks to enable patients to carry on an alert, pain-free life. A team of physicians, nurses, social services specialists, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, respiratory therapists, durable medical equipment technicians, certified hospice aides, chaplains and trained volunteers treats the entire person, not just the disease. Family members are taught how to take care of their loved ones, and when requested, are given the opportunity to take a break from providing direct care. Family members are also provided emotional and spiritual support, including grief services in both individual and group sessions, for up to one year following the patient's death.

Good Shepherd Hospice's care is available for anyone residing in Polk, Highlands or Hardee counties who has been diagnosed to be in the last 12 months of a life-limiting illness. Hospice services are based on medical need and are provided regardless of ability to pay, age, race, creed, sex, lifestyle or illness. In 2008, Good Shepherd Hospice delivered $1.6 million in charity care.