East Texas Quarterly Magazine Spring 2014 | Page 22

20 Years & Counting
Lakes Area Hospice provides expertise and
compassion during difficult times
Lakes Area Hospice has been
a part of the East Texas scene
for 20 years. Those years have
compiled a legacy of outstanding
and award winning healthcare
and community service. Lakes
Area Hospice has become the
gold standard for quality of care
in the hospice community.
“Our agency began with a
grant from the T.L.L. Temple
Foundation, and local business
leaders, clergy, private citizens
and area hospitals who realized
the vital role that end-of-life
care would play in the future,”
says Jeanette Coffield, who has
served as the agency’s executive
director for the past 20 years.“These
leaders wanted to ensure
that their families and neighbors could receive compassion
and
expertise
from
qualified local people whom they knew. Lakes Area
Hospice has met the challenge.”
“Our heartfelt goal has always been to give back to
the communities and patients we serve. We have
participated in parades, festivals, church gatherings,
chamber of commerce events, school activities, and
a host of other happenings to support the concepts
that we hold dear in this beautiful part of the world,”
Coffield adds. “Lakes Area Hospice has been a part of
the glue that holds us together in the spirit of service.”
Like most people, Coffield admits when she was first
approached with the idea of organizing a hospice
in Jasper she had little or no knowledge regarding
the services offered, and the rules and regulations
required to run a hospice program.
“It has been a 20 year learning experience,” she points
out. “We continue to learn new things every day. It
has been a rewarding 20 years and I can honestly say,
we have made a difference.”
Lakes Area Hospice (LAH) is celebrating twenty years
since it opened its doors in rural Jasper in the piney
woods of Deep East Texas. At the same time, the

20 East Texas Quarterly