Dr. William Lamers Jr. dies at 80; championed modern hospice care
Sunday, February 19, 2012 - 00:30
in Health & Medicine
The psychiatrist helped start one of the U.S.' first hospice programs. It enabled terminally ill patients to spend their last days at home, surrounded by family and people trained in end-of-life care."I'm not sick; I'm only dying," a friend told Dr. William Lamers Jr. The man had inoperable cancer and wanted to go home to die, but his doctor wouldn't let him out of the hospital.