Countryside Hospice, Inc. was founded in 1980 to develop a hospice program for the Pierre/Fort Pierre communities. Our first patient was admitted in October of 1982 and we continued to serve as a community based hospice program until 1994 when we merged with St. Mary's Healthcare Center.     The Hospice Thrift Store was created in 1995 through a grant from Piper Jaffrey. The proceeds from this project went into a fund for inpatient hospice care and became the seed money for the patient care suites at St. Mary's.

     In December of 2003, Countryside Hospice moved into the community. These are a few of the projects we are working on:

Hospice Care

• Hospice specific information available in our lending library
• Directory of hospice and palliative care programs nationwide
• Workshops for professionals
• Community education on end of life care
• Scholarship opportunities for professional staff
  

Financial Assistance

• Funding for home and inpatient hospice care provided by St. Mary's Hospice
• Bed and Breakfast program provides funds for patient/families who must travel for treatment

Support

• Cancer support groups
• Monthly bereavement support groups
• On site Internet access for research
  

Education

• Ongoing educational series for patients/families
• Lending library
• Grief in the workplace