About Us
Compassionate, Personalized Hospice Care
Memorial Hospice, Hospice of Petaluma and North County Hospice have collectively served Sonoma and northern Marin counties since 1977. We provided quality, compassionate care to patients and families, as well as grief support and end of life care education to the community. Our combined hospice programs serve over 1200 patients a year with our census averaging 150 to 160 patients a day.
Accredited by Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and a member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization our staff of over 140 include two medical directors, an assistant medical director nurses, hospice aides, social workers, grief counselors, volunteer coordinators, spiritual counselors, trained volunteers, and administrative staff all committed to providing compassionate care to patients and families. Our community based hospices are licensed by the state of California and are Medicare certified and are licensed Medi-Cal organizations.
We are privileged to serve Sonoma and Marin Counties and proud to have Spanish speaking staff available to our patients. In addition at all three of our locations, we offer culturally sensitive grief services in both Spanish and English, at no cost to individuals or groups.
Our history
In 1977, soon after the birth of the modern hospice movement in the United States, Anne Gilbert, RN, MN and Reverend Herb Bauck brought awareness about the popular hospice movement to the Petaluma Health Care District who strongly agreed that such a valuable resource should be available to our community.
Hospice of Petaluma was founded under the leadership of the Petaluma Health Care District Board, Petaluma Valley Hospital and in partnership with member of the Petaluma. Our first Hospice of Petaluma location was at 415 A Street in Petaluma, was quickly outgrown. But, working out of our gracious house on A Street helped our hospice staff and volunteers realize how much the community associated the quality of care we offered with the image of the Hospice House.
In 1989 Hospice of Petaluma began looking for a larger location with the help of then Hospice of Petaluma Advisory Board member Dick Lieb and the support of Petaluma Valley Hospital together with additional funding from a community supported capital campaign our new home became a reality. Hospice of Petaluma sits on this verdant half acre, at 416 Payran Street. Out of this office we deliver hospice care to Petaluma, Novato, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Penngrove, Sonoma Central and West Marin County.
In 1998 Hospice of Petaluma with the support of our Advisory Board, we expanded north. Memorial Hospice was established to provide end of life services to the Greater Santa Rosa area and surrounding communities. In March 2010 our services were further expanded to the Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville, and Cloverdale area by opening the third office, North County Hospice.
(Return to top)Advisory Board
Our Advisory Board
Our Hospice Advisory Board was established in 1978 with volunteer Board members sharing expertise and commitment to help with the planning and development of our hospice programs. The Hospice Advisory Board is comprised of leaders from Sonoma County communities.
2011-2012 Advisory Board Members:
Pat Anderson, MSN, RNDiane Carlson Sullivan - Community Representative
Roger Chevalier- Owner, Improving Workplace Performance
Robb Daer- Partner, George Peterson Insurance Agency
Rebecca Evert- Community Representative
Peter Grauert - Direct Care Volunteer Representative
Inese Heinzel - Direct Care Volunteer Representative
Barbara Mackenzie- Community Representative
Kathleen Murphy LCSW, Private Practice
Jack Neureuter - CEO, Alliance Medical Center
Blythe Owens - Direct Care Volunteer Representative
Randy Stephens Flemming - Direct Care Volunteer
Anna Taylor - Community Representative
Cathy Thomas - Community Representative
Vickie Volger, R.N. - Community Representative
Staff Attendees:
Nina Arbour - Manager of Volunteer Services, Community Relations and Grief Services
Karen Carstensen - Manager, Sack's Hospice of Petaluma Thrift Store
Richard Chole - Manager, Sacks on the Square
Scott Eberle, MD - Hospice Medical Director , Hospice of Petaluma
Gary Johanson, MD - Hospice Medical Director - Memorial Hospice & North County Hospice
Judy Ryder, MA - Hospice Director
Jo Sandersfeld - Vice President, Mission Integration, St. Joseph Health System - Sonoma County
Craig Sheffer, MS, RN - Hospice Clinical Services Manager (Return to top)
