After decades of caring for patients in central New Hampshire, we learned many lessons about medicine. Perhaps the most important is that how we care for people at the end of life matters just as much as how we care for them throughout it.
That is why we have chosen to support the campaign to renovate and strengthen Granite VNA Hospice House.
Throughout our careers as a surgeon and a medical oncologist, we witnessed firsthand the difference that compassionate hospice care makes for patients and families facing life-limiting illnesses. Hospice is not about giving up. It is about ensuring comfort, dignity and peace during one of life’s most challenging chapters.
When one of us was considering oncology opportunities in the Northeast early in his career, New Hampshire stood out because it already offered something rare: a strong hospice program and access to a dedicated Hospice House. Such facilities were virtually unheard of where he had trained in New York City. It reflected a community that understood the importance of caring for people not only when they could be cured, but also when they and their loved ones needed comfort and support.
When the other arrived in Concord in the late 1980s, he was immediately struck by the area’s spirit of compassion and service. That commitment extended into healthcare, where he saw a talented nursing community and dedicated providers working together to meet the needs of patients and families.
When Hospice House opened in Concord in 1994, it represented a groundbreaking step forward. As the first hospice house in New Hampshire and among the first in the U.S., it gave families another option when care at home was no longer possible and a hospital setting was not the right fit. For physicians caring for seriously ill patients, it filled a critical gap in the continuum of care.
More than three decades later, the need remains just as urgent, if not more so.
Families continue to face difficult decisions when a loved one approaches the end of life. They deserve access to a place designed specifically to provide expert clinical care, emotional support and a comforting environment during those moments. Hospice House has done exactly that for countless individuals throughout the region.
It is no secret that New Hampshire has one of the oldest populations in the country, second only to Maine. As our population ages and demand for end-of-life care grows, it is our responsibility to ensure that this resource remains available for future generations. Renovating and strengthening Hospice House through a dedicated endowment is not simply about preserving a building. It is about reaffirming our community’s commitment to caring for one another with compassion and dignity.
We are honored to serve on the Hospice House Capital Campaign Steering Committee because we believe this mission reflects the very best of New Hampshire. Hospice House has offered care and comfort to our neighbors, friends and family members for decades. Now it is our turn to care for and preserve Hospice House.
The measure of a community is not only how it celebrates life, but how it supports people at the end of their lives. Hospice House has long been there when New Hampshire families from all walks of life needed it most. Together, through the Legacy & Promise campaign, we can ensure it remains a vital community resource for generations to come.
Fred Bricetti, MD, is a retired oncologist who resides in Contoocook. Nick Perencevich, MD, is a retired surgeon who resides in Concord.