Atlantic Hospice's 35th Anniversary Dinner

Atlantic Hospice will celebrate its 35th anniversary this month, marking more than three decades of providing high-quality care as well as contributing to the field of end-of-life care both in New Jersey and the nation.

The anniversary will be celebrated with a dinner on Saturday, April 28, 2012, at the Fairmount Country Club in Chatham, New Jersey. In addition to dinner, the event will include live entertainment and a silent auction. Proceeds of the auction will be used to fund Camp Clover, a free bereavement camp for children, which was established by Atlantic Hospice in 2011.

Atlantic Hospice, a division of AHS Hospital Corp., was started as Overlook Hospice, part of Overlook Hospital’s home care department in 1977, soon after the hospice movement migrated from England to the United States. The hospital’s director of community medicine, Dr. Arthur McLellan, and Barbara Ward Marin, RN, director of community nursing, founded Overlook Hospice after travelling to the first hospice in the United States, Connecticut Hospice, to learn about the groundbreaking new field of medicine.

Overlook Hospital, now Overlook Medical Center, which has a long history of health care innovation, sent Barbara Ward to Denmark to study geriatric care in further pursuit of this new field. The hospice program began with a medical director, two nurses, one social worker, and one volunteer. As the community and physicians embraced the new program, it grew to include a full interdisciplinary team of hospice nurses, social workers, chaplains, volunteers, bereavement specialists and home health aides.

Overlook Hospice was one of 24 sites selected across the country to demonstrate the benefits of hospice care, a project which led to the enactment of the Medicare Hospice Benefit in 1982. This allowed hospices to receive federal funds for the care they provide to eligible patients.

The hospice was renamed Atlantic Hospice when Overlook became a part of Atlantic Health System in 1996. Now based in Morristown, Atlantic Hospice provided care to more than 1,100 patients in Essex, Morris, Somerset and Union counties last year. The staff has grown to four medical directors, 27 hospice nurses, six social workers, five chaplains, and nearly 100 volunteers.

The hospice medical directors can collaborate with physicians or assume responsibility for patient care. Hospice and palliative care certified nurses, social workers, home health aides, spiritual counselors and volunteers focus on patient comfort and individual needs. Bereavement professionals work with family and friends for a year through support groups and individual counseling.

“Atlantic Hospice began from Dr. McLellan and Barbara Ward’s belief that there had to be a more dignified and compassionate way for people to spend the final days and hours of their lives,” said Michele Cameron, manager, business development and community outreach, Atlantic Home Care & Hospice. “That belief has guided the hard work and dedication of Atlantic Hospice’s staff over the last 35 years that have allowed us to become a leader in enhancing the quality of patients’ lives.”

The 35th anniversary event will honor the contributions of four individuals who have played prominent roles in the development of Atlantic Hospice, as mentors, partners and supporters:

• Dr. Arthur McLellan and Barbara Ward Marin, founders of Atlantic Hospice
• Gary Fisch, owner of Gary’s Wine and Marketplace, a generous donor Atlantic Hospice as well as other community organizations.
• Scott Bradley, President of Bradley & Son Funeral Homes, a generous and longtime supporter of Atlantic Hospice.

Tickets to the event are $100 per person. For more information, please call (973) 379-8440.

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