Wald, Florence Shorske, 1917-2008

Born on April 19, 1917 in New York City, Florence Wald became a pioneer and a leading voice in the development of hospice care in the United States. Wald obtained a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1938, an M.N. from the Yale University School of Nursing in 1941, and an M.S. from the Yale University Graduate School in 1956. From 1941 to 1943, she served as a staff nurse for the New York Visiting Nurse Service, from 1946 to 1952 she was a research assistant at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, and from 1955 to 1957, she was an instructor at Rutgers University School of Nursing. In 1957, Wald became a faculty member in the Yale University School of Nursing, where she has served as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Research Associate, Dean, and Clinical Professor.

In 1963, Wald met Cicely Saunders, the founder of the hospice movement in Great Britain and the director of St. Christopher's Hospice in London. During the second half of the 1960s, Wald and Saunders met several times in England and the United States and began to explore and conceptualize the possibilities of bringing hospice care to America. In late 1968, Wald began a two year grant supported study of dying patients. She set up an interdisciplinary team of health care providers and a spiritual advisor to care for the terminally ill. In exchange for care, the patients allowed the research team to keep notes to be used in determining the viability of developing an on-going hospice care program. The research developed into the beginning of institutionalized hospice care in the United States, and at the completion of the study, the group formed Hospice, Inc. and began planning a program and facility to provide hospice care in the New Haven area.

Florence Wald served on the Board of Directors and the planning staff for Hospice, Inc. until 1975, when she resigned due to internal conflicts. Upon her resignation, Wald was formally acknowledged as the Founder of Hospice, Inc. Wald continued to be an advocate for the hospice movement through publications, conference presentations, and consultant work, while she returned to teaching in the Yale School of Nursing. She participated in many national and international research groups within the hospice movement, most notably the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement. Wald is the recipient of many honors, including honorary doctorates from Mount Holyoke College and the University of Bridgeport School of Nursing, the Founders Award from the National Hospice Organization, and the Contribution to Hospice Award from the National Association of Home Care. In 1998, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

As one of the original incorporators, Henry Wald also played a critical role in the founding of Hospice, Inc. He served as a member of the Board of Directors until 1977, and chaired the Building and Site Committee. As an architect and engineer who specialized in the design of health care facilities, he was instrumental in developing the facility of Hospice, Inc. in Branford, CT. Wald's 1971 thesis for his masters degree from the Columbia University School of Architecture, "A Hospice for Terminally Ill Patients," became a widely consulted source on the design of hospice care facilities. Henry Wald died on December 22, 2000. Florence Wald died on November 8, 2008, in her home in Branford, Connecticut.

From the guide to the Florence and Henry Wald Papers, 1955-2003, (Manuscripts and Archives)