St. Anthony’s Hospice was founded in 1982 in Henderson County, KY by a local board of directors, spurred by the vision of John Conn and Marianne Walker. Volunteers on behalf of St. Anthony’s Hospice began providing care to individuals with life-limiting illnesses and their families in January of that year. Within one year, St. Anthony’s was employing nurses to provide hospice care. The organization grew both clinically and administratively during the first decade and expanded to serve families living in Union County in 1989 and Webster County in 1992.
The organization began aggressively expanding the reach of its mission in 2006. Since then the organization increased its service to individuals living in their own homes and in local long-term care facilities and built the St. Anthony’s Hospice Lucy Smith King Care Center in 2009.
In 2016, St. Anthony’s noticed another target population in need of extra care at home. This population is still seeking aggressive or curative treatment for his/her serious illness but is in and out of the hospital a lot. St. Anthony’s developed a Transitional Care program focused on quality of life, educating our patients about their disease process, and developing goals of care. On February 6, 2017, we admitted our first Transitional Care patient, which is now our Palliative Care program!
No matter how St. Anthony’s Hospice grows and changes with healthcare trends, we always keep to the original vision of our founders- exceptional care for those at the end of life. We believe the end of life is as precious and fragile as the beginning.
