LifeCare Hospice history

In 1990, Doctor Hampton and other physicians from the Oklahoma County Medical Society launched Hospice of Oklahoma County, a Medicare-certified hospice.

In 1995, The SUPPORT (The Study to Understand Prognosis and Preferences for Outcomes and Risks of Treatment) study was a groundbreaking $29 million multi-year project that exposed the flaws associated with end-of-life care in this country.

Our Medical Director has maintained his Hospice and Palliative Medicine credentialing since 1999, as a specialist in this field of Medicine.

McCarthy, E. P., Phillips, R. S., Zhong, Z., Drews, R. E., & Lynn, J. (2000). Dying with cancer: Patients’ function, symptoms, and care preferences as death approaches.

Tang (2003) examined the preferred site of death in 180 patients with cancer and found 87% indicating a preference to die at home.

Catt, S., Blanchard, M., Addington-Hall, J., Zis, M., Blizard, R., & King, M. (2005). Older people’s attitudes to death, palliative treatment, and hospice care.

Heyland, D. K., Dodek, P., Rocker, G., Groll, D., Gafni, A., & Pichora, D., et al. (2006). What matters most in end-of-life-care: Perceptions of seriously ill patients and their family members.

Despite the preference to die at home, Gruneir, Mor, Weitzen, Truchil, Teno, & Roy (2007) found 53% of deaths from terminal illness occur at the hospital.

In 2009, it also began operating an inpatient hospice unit called The INTEGRIS Hospice House, which is the only in-patient hospice provider in Oklahoma.

Towler and his $1 million gift in 2010.

In 2013, the Board of Directors approves a name change to Transitions LifeCare to reflect our offerings of more than “hospice” care and service to patients well beyond “Wake County.”

People were living longer and infant mortality rates were decreasing, both of which are fairly good indicators of the health of a nation (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014). Fewer people were dying at home and being cared for solely by their family.