VITAS was founded in Miami in 1978 as one of the nation’s first hospice programs. Today we are widely recognized as the nation’s leading hospice provider.

Our name is derived from the Latin word for lives. It symbolizes the VITAS mission: to preserve quality of life for those who have a limited time to live.

Three statements capture our company’s guiding principles:

• We offer people choices. From more effective methods of controlling pain to alternative therapies and specialized care programs, VITAS is expanding the options available to the terminally ill.
  
  
• We work to ease the discomfort, the fears and the high expense that can accompany incurable illness. Members of our interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to spend quality time caring for our patients and their families, enabling them to be advocates who make independent decisions. VITAS also is a leader in improving access to hospice for traditionally underserved populations.
  
  
• We help preserve dignity. As an advocate for patient rights, VITAS believes that individuals should be apprised of their clinical prognosis and be involved in the decision-making process that determines how their care is provided.

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