Capital Hospice

Provides expert medical care and emotional, spiritual and practical support to more than 850 seriously ill patients and their families each day, regardless of their ability to pay.

How do you help people in my community?

Capital Hospice provides services in Northern Virginia, including the “close-in” communities of Alexandria, Falls Church, and Arlington, and further west and south in Loudon (Leesburg) and Prince William (Manassas) counties; Washington, DC; and Prince George’s County.  If you or someone you know needs hospice care in these communities, please call 1-800-869-2136.

Why do you need my support?

The need for hospice is growing dramatically.  According to several studies, most people prefer to die at home, and increasingly, more Americans now die at home or in hospice care than in hospitals.  Another study revealed that home-based hospice care consistenly receives high levels of satisfaction from patients and families. 

At the same time, however, the cost of providing care -- particularly to those who are uninsured and under-insured -- has increased.  Capital Hospice’s costs for unreimbursed care has grown from $2.4 million to $7.5 million in four years.  

Contributions to Capital Hospice allow us to care for others in need in many different ways:

Serving more than 3,500 patients and families every year – from infants to grandparents, patients with cancer, Alzheimers’, lung and heart diseases, Lou Gehring’s, and AIDS. 

Caring for 500 acutely ill patients a year at Halquist Memorial Inpatient Center in Arlington. The Inpatient Center is a 15-bed, home-like facility that offers care to patients with acute systems or whose families need respite care.

Responding to more than 1,300 calls for help and assistance 'round the clock from patients and caregivers in our program.  Capital Hospice’s After Hours call center is a signature program and one of very few in the country.

Offering solace and support to more than 8,000 individuals who experience grief, loss, or trauma through community grief and loss programs.  Capital Hospice provide extensive counseling to families throughout the Washington metropolitan region after the terrorist attack at the Pentagon.

Training and educating more than 200 nurses, home health aides, and physicians in hospice and palliative care.  Capital Hospice’s Institute for Education and Leadership is the forefront of research and education in high-quality end of life care.

How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?

Capital Hospice must raise between $7 and 8 million every year to cover the costs of care that is not reimbursed by Medicare or private insurance – that amount covers the full cost of 250,000 days of patient care.  Additionally, because Capital Hospice does not turn anyone away, we spend more than $1.1 million in charity care for terminally ill patients who come to us for care without any insurance.  82 cents of every dollar that is contributed to Capital Hospice goes directly to our care of patients and their families.

Can I Volunteer? How?