About Mesilla Valley Hospice

The original work of Mesilla Valley Hospice extends back to November 1980 when a small group of individuals got together to discuss the hospice concept. This founding group believed there was an immediate need to provide terminally ill patients with an alternative in end of life care. Founder Terry Meyer, MD was intuitively convinced that the hospice philosophy would be a valuable addition to the scientific support available to dying patients.

Other founders include Irene Franco, RN; Esther Sherrod, RN and Don Combs. Don Beasley and Stephen Hubert were helpful with the accounting and legal systems, and Wanda Bullock, RN served as volunteer nurse. The agency was finally incorporated in 1982 as a private not for profit organization. Medicare certification was achieved in 1984.

Community Support for Mesilla Valley Hospice

Community support for a hospice program was evident from the beginning. Furniture and items needed to set up office were donated, and a Venture in Mission grant from St. Andrews Episcopal Church established Mesilla Valley Hospice as a viable program. In 1983 Mesilla Valley Hospice was accepted in the United Way program.

For the first 10 years, the hospice program grew slowly but steadily. Almost from the beginning, there was a recognized need for a "hospice cottage" for patients who had no caregiver in the home. The board of directors worked for many years to establish a hospice house, but it wasn't until three local doctors donated 5 acres of land and an office building in 1993 that the project gained momentum. Following the gift from Drs. Duarte, Fleming and Pucelik and their families, the community raised over $1.3 million in the hospice's Much More Can Be Done Capital Campaign.

La Posada, the first freestanding residential hospice of its kind in the state of New Mexico, opened to its first resident in September 1998.

Are you ready for Hospice care?

Last Wishes

Unlike Make a Wish Foundations, Mesilla Valley Hospice is not able to finance last wish requests, however, hospice is able to help people facilitate and perhaps discover long held dreams. Click here to see some examples patient's Last Wishes.