History
Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care was founded in 1981 as a non-profit, community-based organization. Founder Betty Brosius was inspired to create a hospice organization by the struggle she and her husband faced during his experience with terminal illness.
1981
- Betty Brosius and three friends establish Rainbow Hospice as a community-based hospice serving patients in the northwest suburbs.
- Betty was inspired by her husband’s struggle with terminal illness to provide comfort and compassion to people at the end of their lives
1987
- Rainbow becomes state licensed as a full hospice home care agency and becomes Medicare/Medicaid certified.
- Rainbow hosts its first Angels Ball Gala.
1990
- Rainbow’s first President/Executive Director Carol Minarik is hired.
1996
- Pat Ahern is hired as President/CEO.
1997
- Rainbow becomes the sole facilitator of the Good Mourning Program after two years of partnership with Advocate Lutheran General.
1999
- A dedicated department is formed to focus on bereavement counseling.
- Rainbow enters clinical education agreements with local teaching institutions to train the next generation of healthcare practitioners.
2000
- The chaplain Residency Program begins in collaboration with Advocate Lutheran General Hospital.
2002
- Rainbow launches the LIFE (Leading Innovators for End-of-Life Education) Institute for Learning.
- Rainbow’s community-based palliative care program begins.
- Rainbow becomes accredited by the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP).
2003
- Rainbow continues to build a full complement of services, adding a palliative care pharmacist and a music therapist to the staff.
2005
- Rainbow hires its first full-time home visit physician.
2006
- Rainbow begins offering pet and massage therapies to patients.
2007
- The Ark Inpatient Unit opens in Park Ridge.
- The Board approves the addition of two Community Board seats, increasing the number of Board members to six.
2008
- Rainbow’s name is officially changed to “Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care.”
- The President’s Council is established for donors who give $2,500 or more annually.
2010
- Rainbow is listed as one of Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare.
2011
- With the generous support of a family foundation, Rainbow’s main offices move from Park Ridge to Mount Prospect.
2012
- Rainbow embarks on the Dementia with Dignity Project, a $600,000 grant to help build expert training and resources for dementia care.
- Rainbow is again ranked as one of Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work in Healthcare.
2014
- Rainbow becomes part of the Presence Health system.
2015
- Michael McHale joins Rainbow as President and CEO.
- State of the art 14-seat call center opens in the Mount Prospect office.
- Presence Palliative Care is launched.
- Rainbow launches its first Innovation Team, tasked with testing new care delivery models, including TeleHospice.
- The first physician fellow graduates from the LIFE Institute’s Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) Fellowship Program.
2016
- Presence Hospice becomes Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care.
- Rainbow’s Ark Inpatient Unit moves to Presence Resurrection Medical Center.
- Rainbow launches a Dedicated Education Partnership with Resurrection University.
2017
- Rainbow becomes a Level Four We Honor Veterans Partner, the highest designation in the program.
- Susan Enright becomes the Interim President of Rainbow Hospice and Palliative Care.
2018
- The first two bereavement fellows graduate from the LIFE Institute’s Grief & Loss Services Bereavement Fellowship Program.
- Presence Health and Ascension, the nation’s leading non-profit and Catholic health system, reach an agreement for Presence Health to join Ascension and become part of AMITA Health, a joint operating company of Ascension’s Alexian Brothers Health System and Adventist Midwest Health, which is part of the Adventist Health System.
- Rainbow becomes part of the AMITA Health system.
