By Chris Valley

The audience of over 200 people included physicians, housewives, nurses, nuns, retired persons, clergy, pharmacists, social workers and psychologists. They had come to St. Joseph’s Hospital the night of July 7 to hear about something they were all deeply involved with and committed to: care of the terminally ill and their families.

The speaker was Dr. Josefina B. Magno, M.D., a pioneer in the hospice movement in America. Her talk was co-sponsored by Northside Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital. It brought together representatives from the five hospices now functioning in Atlanta. Dr. Magno is in Atlanta to conduct a study on the feasibility of establishing a free-standing hospice which would allow continuity of comprehensive care from the home through hospitalization for terminally ill people. This new hospice program would not replace the work currently being done, but would complement what Atlanta hospices now offer.

Currently the director of the Center for Hospice Studies at Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, D.C., Dr. Magno founded the Hospice of Northern Virginia Inc., and is the director of the Hospice Program at Lombardi Cancer Research Center of Georgetown University Hospital. Until November 1982, she was the executive director of the National Hospice Organization.

After she underwent treatment for cancer in 1974, Dr. Magno decided that whatever time remained in her own life would be devoted to care of the terminally ill. She entered oncology residency training at Georgetown University Hospital in 1975. It was during this time that she became acquainted with the work of St. Christopher’s Hospice in London, the first hospice established in modern times.

The hospice that Dr. Magno established in the Washington, D.C. area was one of the first in this country. “The hospice movement has come a long way in the United States,” she notes. “Seven years ago, if you mentioned the word, ‘hospice,’ you would be asked how it is spelled. Today, you’re asked where the building is located. People still don’t know that hospice is not a building but a grass-roots movement. But at least they know how to spell it.”

The goal of the hospice is to help the patient live life to the fullest until death occurs naturally. The family as well as the patient himself needs the added support a hospice provides as a life nears its end. “When hope for recovery is no longer there, that is when greater help is needed,” comments Dr. Magno.

Recent federal legislation allows Medicare reimbursement for hospice care which meets federal guidelines. “If we are to think of the feasibility of hospices in the United States, we must first think of the role of insurance,” says Dr. Magno, who developed the pilot project for Blue Cross/Blue Shield in hospice care cost reimbursement.

The federal legislation is the result of the tireless dedication of volunteers in hundreds of communities across every state in the nation. It was born out of the hearts of people who care about the terminally ill and their families, and out of the recognition that comprehensive care is what is required.

“Hospice is not just loving care,” says Dr. Magno. “It is competent, appropriate, loving care. That is the only way we can do justice to the patient in his dying moments.”

Besides her work at Georgetown, Dr. Magno is also one of three advisors to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on the Laity. Dr. Magno sees the hospice movement as an opportunity for developing lay ministry. The American bishops have likewise identified the hospice movement as one of the key areas of concern for Catholics in this year’s Respect for Life Campaign.

Churches can play an important role in the development of hospice care. They can provide referral of terminally ill patients and family members, volunteers to give personal care and support to patients, and fundraising to sustain overall hospice operation.

At least one parish in the Archdiocese of Atlanta is considering how it can reach out to help dying people through the hospice concept. Holy Family parish in Marietta has held an initial meeting with Dr. Magno to discuss a pilot program in conjunction with other area churches, both Catholic and non-Catholic.

Holy Family parishioner Dianne Conolly notes, “Dying can be such a lonely experience for the family. Maybe we can make it less so.”

As Dr. Magno points out, “The last part of life can be the most meaningful. It’s when good-byes can be given, when broken hearts can be healed, and when valuable time and energy can be directed to things that really matter.”