A Legacy of Caring

Our History

When someone you love needs care for life’s final months, you want the most experience and highest quality available. Started in 1984, Arbor Hospice has been providing expert, compassionate end-of-life care longer than any other provider in our community. We are committed to helping families and enabling individuals to complete their lives with dignity, in comfort and at peace.

Since our beginnings, we have added services to relieve pain and other symptoms of serious illness at any stage, including specialized care for children and their families. As a member of NorthStar Care Community, we’re dedicated to collaborating with other nonprofit hospice organizations to further evolve best practices and continually improve our capabilities for you.

Here are some milestones of our journey so far:

1984

Mary Lindquist, a registered nurse, founded Personalized Nursing Service (PNS) – a private, not-for-profit organization designed to provide first-rate care for terminally ill patients and their families.

1988

PNS became a Medicare-certified hospice and began growing rapidly as we served more and more patients.

1989

“Arbor Hospice” was added to PNS’ name to indicate our certification as a hospice organization. We also collaborated with the University of Michigan Center for Child and Family Department to develop a specialized children’s program. A grant from Towsley Foundation was instrumental in starting the program.

1990

The organization tripled the size of its nursing staff from 9 to 27. We identified a need to provide hospice services to those who could not be cared for in their own homes, and began a relationship with Glacier Hills Nursing Home to care for patients in their facilities.

1998

Recognizing an urgent need for a place where people with special needs could complete their lives in comfort, The Residence of Arbor Hospice was developed and built. The Residence was Michigan’s first in-patient hospice facility, featuring 26 private rooms on exquisitely landscaped grounds. A grant from the Ann Arbor Downtown Kiwanis Club and a memorial donation in memory of Richard Greve made the construction possible.

2000

New bylaws were approved to enable Arbor Hospice to expand beyond Ann Arbor and Allen Park and open offices in other areas – including Northville/Novi, Woodhaven and Monroe – to better serve patients throughout our seven-county service area.

2012

Arbor Palliative Care (now called NorthStar Palliative Care) was launched as an in-home palliative care consultation service to help patients at any stage of any serious illness get relief from pain and other symptoms.

2016

Arbor Hospice formed an alliance with Hospice of Michigan to create NorthStar Care Community, dedicated to strengthening and expanding the mission of nonprofit hospices throughout Michigan and beyond.