Hospice Care of Nantucket Foundation is a tax-exempt public charitable organization, which was established in 1982 to develop and support a hospice program for the community of Nantucket.

Through the collaboration of our foundation and the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, a unique “partnership in caring” exists whereby the foundation provides funding, community outreach, and support for the Hospice Program, while the hospice program itself is operated as a department of the Nantucket Cottage Hospital.

Our History

Started as a grassroots effort by a small group of parishioners of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in 1980, the idea of hospice for Nantucket was brought to the administrator of Nantucket Cottage Hospital. After a period of time, with leadership and support from the hospital’s director of nursing and director of volunteers, the first training program for “would be” hospice volunteers was run in 1982, followed by the organization of a hospice board and the development of an all-volunteer patient care program. The program operated within the structure of the hospital for the initial period until decisions could be made about whether it should become a department of the hospital or become a separate community organization.

After thoughtful deliberations amongst the board and the hospital representatives, it was decided that the community would best be served if the hospice program itself functioned as a department of the hospital, while the board would form a separate, tax-exempt organization to provide support, funding, and a community advisory committee for the program. Thus a unique partnership was created by the Nantucket Cottage Hospital and Hospice Care of Nantucket Foundation, and continues to this day.