Our organization was founded in 1982 by nine volunteers who, with private funding and community donations, provided in-home hospice care for 18 patients in our first year of operation. Today, Ohio’s Hospice of Central Ohio has cared for thousands of patients throughout Central Ohio.

As the organization continued to grow, The Selma Markowitz Care Center was opened in February 1997 within Licking Memorial Hospital. In addition, the annual children’s bereavement camp, Camp HOCO, began in 1997 to assist children in managing their grief.

In 2004, we found our permanent home when we purchased a building in Newark at 2269 Cherry Valley Road. Today, the building continues to serve as the organization’s main office location. This new building provides room for growth, plenty of storage, and ample parking for our staff and guests. As we grew, this building has been periodically reconfigured to add more office space, a bigger kitchen with an eating area, an executive boardroom and a large conference center. The building provides space to hold celebrations of life and support groups for grieving individuals. It also has enough room for a consultation room for palliative patients.