A caring not-for-profit partnership
of Bellin Health, St. Mary's
and St. Vincent Hospitals
   


Celebrating
more than
30 years of
quality care
in Northeast
Wisconsin

The Unity Story
For more than three decades, Unity has been here, serving the needs of residents throughout Northeast Wisconsin.  A not-for-profit leader in hospice and palliative care, Unity is a partnership of Green Bay's three not-for-profit hospitals: Bellin Health, St. Mary's and St. Vincent Hospitals.

Since its beginnings, Unity has grown from a small hospice providing care in 3 counties to a state leader serving 12 counties with quality hospice, palliative and bereavement care.  We continue to look for ways to increase access, improve care and provide more options for our patients and families.  More than 700 patients trust Unity for their care every day.

A member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), Unity is based in greater Green Bay, Wisconsin, with offices in Marinette, Shawano and Sturgeon Bay.  We invite you to learn more about our history and the path that has made Unity what it is today ...

Dame Cicely Saunders
Photo Courtesy of St. Christopher's  Hospice		 1967 - Dame Cicely Saunders (1918-2005), a nurse, medical social worker and physician, recognizes the importance of her patients' emotional and spiritual needs, as well as physical symptoms, and founds St. Christopher's Hospice (London, England).  It is the first research and teaching hospice linked with clinical care.

1974 - The United States' first hospice, Connecticut Hospice, is established in New Haven, Connecticut.

1977 - Inspired by the changing attitudes in London toward alleviating human suffering, leaders from Bellin Health travel to England to learn from Dame Saunders' experience and wisdom.  In June, Bellin Health founds Bellin Hospice, the first hospice in the State of Wisconsin and one of the first hospices in the nation.  Bereavement programs supplement the hospice inpatient and home care. Unity's Original Office on Walnut Street

1990 - Realizing that a hospital-based hospice cannot keep up with regional needs, representatives of Bellin Health, St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center and St. Vincent Hospital meet to formulate a plan to combine efforts.

   
Newspaper Article: Hospitals merge to create hospice1993 - Unity, a partnership of Bellin Health, St. Mary's and St. Vincent Hospitals, begins offering hospice and bereavement care to the community on March 1.  A staff of 18, assisted by 85 volunteers, serves the needs of 30 patients in a
25-mile radius of Green Bay on a daily basis.

2002 - Unity begins offering palliative care.  It becomes the first hospice organization in Northeast Wisconsin to offer a free-standing palliative care program, providing holistic physical, emotional and spiritual care to all patients diagnosed with a life-limiting illness.

2006 - Unity breaks ground on a new 34-acre campus in De Pere, Wisconsin, for its Hospice Residence and Administrative Office, and planned Memorial Gardens. Unity's Campus: Groundbreaking Ceremony

Unity's Residence: Ribbon-cutting Ceremony   2007 - Unity opens the Jack and Engrid Meng Residence, the first end-of-life care facility in the community.

Today - Unity's staff of over 200 employees and 200 volunteers serves the needs of more than 660 patients each day in a 12-county region in Northeast Wisconsin.