Celebrating 45 Years of Hospice of Washington County: A Legacy of Compassionate Care
Hospice of Washington County has been a pillar of comfort, dignity, and compassionate end-of-life care for patients and their families throughout Washington County, Maryland, for many years. The organization provides hospice and palliative care services wherever patients call home—whether that’s in their private residences, long-term care communities, or at Doey’s House, its 12-bed inpatient facility designed for those needing 24-hour care. Now celebrating its 45th year, Hospice of Washington County remains guided by the same compassionate vision that inspired its founding.
A Founding Physician Reflects on the Journey
Dr. Frederic H. Kass III has deep roots in the Hagerstown medical community, as well as in the founding of Hospice of Washington County. A 1974 graduate of George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dr. Kass completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Virginia Medical Center and his fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at George Washington University. He went on to serve as a practicing hematologist/oncologist in Hagerstown from 1979 to 2018. In addition to his medical career, Dr. Kass serves on the Investigational Review Board at Meritus Medical Center and has contributed to multiple clinical publications. It was his commitment to compassionate care that led him, in 1980, to help launch Hospice of Washington County.
Reflecting on those early years, Dr. Kass recalls a lack of community infrastructure to support patients with terminal illnesses. In 1980, in Washington County—and indeed much of Maryland—there were no hospice services, leaving families to navigate the end of life on their own. The modern hospice movement in the U.S. only began in the 1970s, inspired by Dame Cicely Saunders’ first hospice in England in 1967 and Florence Wald’s establishment of Connecticut Hospice in 1974. “People with terminal illnesses were really left to the support of family and friends. Most of the responsibility often fell on a wife or daughter,” Dr. Kass shares. “It became clear to me that hospice could provide the supervision and support my patients needed—especially those who wanted to remain at home.”
Hospice of Washington County began as a grassroots, volunteer-driven effort. “It was really bare bones,” Dr. Kass recalls. “We were simply trying to help patients and their families however we could.” In those early days, the scope of care was limited by available resources—but a major turning point came in 1989 when Medicare began reimbursing hospice services. This shift allowed Hospice of Washington County to evolve into a more structured, interdisciplinary program that included nurses, social workers, chaplains, and health aides.
Over the years, Hospice of Washington County has not only grown in size and scope but also in its capacity for compassionate, personalized care. Dr. Kass recalls when Hospice started a program known as the “Gift of Hospice,” which focused on fulfilling meaningful wishes for patients—such as arranging a special visit from players of the University of Maryland basketball team for a lifelong fan, or hanging a bird feeder outside a patient’s window. “Those were the kinds of things that really enhanced the overall care and support that becomes so important at the end of life,” he says.
Another pivotal milestone in Hospice of Washington County’s journey came more recently, marking a new chapter in its continued growth and reach. In September 2024, Hospice of Washington County entered into an affiliation agreement with Baltimore-based Gilchrist, Maryland’s leading nonprofit provider of serious illness and end-of-life care. This collaboration brought together two mission-driven organizations with nearly 75 years of combined experience, ensuring expanded access to care and a unified approach to serving communities across Maryland and south-central Pennsylvania.
Honoring a Legacy: The Frederic H. Kass III, M.D. Endowed Scholarship Fund
In recognition of Dr. Kass’s commitment to health care in the region, Hospice of Washington County established the Frederic H. Kass III, M.D. Endowed Scholarship Fund. The scholarship is open to high school seniors, college students, or adults pursuing continuing education in a health-related field. Applicants must be residents of Washington County, Maryland, with a minimum GPA of 3.0, and must be accepted into an accredited healthcare program. The purpose is twofold: to invest in future healthcare providers and to inspire recipients to return and serve the local community. “What mattered most to me was that the scholarship would help students from this community,” says Dr. Kass. “The hope is that their education and training will prepare them to return and provide hands-on care for patients here at home.”
To those just starting their careers in hospice and palliative care, Dr. Kass offers this advice: “Understand that despite how high-tech medicine is, there are still conditions for which we may not have an answer. The goal is to make the person comfortable. Failure is not the death of that patient. Failure is not to care about that patient and the family.”
Looking Ahead with Compassion and Independence
Working in hospice changed how Dr. Kass views life and death. “Few of us think very deeply about our own demise,” he says. “But to understand that there is a group that can help people address that—it’s incredibly important.”
As he reflects on the 45-year journey of Hospice of Washington County, Dr. Kass is proud of how far the organization has come—and hopeful for its future. “My hope is that it continues to be patient-centered, that we don’t lose sight of the fact that this is as much a social service as a medical service,” he says. “If you’re there to provide service, you ought to be privy to what the patient and their loved ones need.”
Through its dedicated staff, innovative programs, and steadfast community support, Hospice of Washington County continues to serve as a beacon of hope for families facing life’s most difficult moments. And thanks to the vision of leaders like Dr. Kass, that legacy will live on—for the next 45 years and beyond.
To learn more about the Hospice of Washington County and the Frederic H. Kass III, M.D. Scholarship Fund, visit hospiceofwc.org.