More Than 40 Years of Choosing VITAS

Images from the decades of VITAS' history

VITAS history celebrates more than 40 years of families choosing quality care, dignity and compassion.

In July of 1978, we cared for our first patient by listening. We asked about her pain, her priorities and her desire to stay at home in her final months, weeks and days.

We’ve been listening to our patients ever since. Read more about our history and how far we've grown, decade after decade, to become the leading hospice care company in the nation.

Leading in a Rapidly Changing Technological Landscape

From the early days of handwritten intake forms to today’s use of virtual reality, the latest in a series of videos shows how VITAS Healthcare has been a leader in innovating patient care over the last four decades.

A VITAS physician uses a tablet as she talks with a patient who is in a hospital bed

Our Four-Decade History of Hospice Leadership

Throughout its more than 40-year history, VITAS employees have watched the company expand into new markets, embrace technology, expand supportive services to meet ever-changing patient needs, and create disease-specific care protocols.

How VITAS Cared for Patients During the AIDS Crisis

What was it like to provide hospice care to patients who were dying from an unknown disease with no known treatments?

Protesters march in support of the gay community in the early days of the AIDS crisis

Why This Landmark Is Significant in VITAS’ History

A National Historic Landmark was illuminated purple to honor VITAS’ four decades of advancing the American hospice hospice movement.

Miami-Dade College's Freedom Tower is bathed in purple light

The Early Days of VITAS Healthcare

In the 1970s, Hugh Westbrook and Esther Colliflower were teachers at a community college in South Florida. They went on to start the organization that would become VITAS Healthcare. Learn how they did it.

A Letter from Senator Bill Nelson

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson sent us a letter acknowledging our anniversary and congratulating our growth from one of the nation’s first hospice programs to a leading provider of end-of-life care.