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nursing services were added. With certification, Medicare and Medicaid patients had access to the Medicare/Medicaid Hospice Benefit that provides reimbursement for comprehensive hospice services provided to patients and families. Before Medicare certification, HospiceCare was supported entirely by community funding. Since its inception, HospiceCare has upheld a policy to serve all terminally ill patients regardless of insurance reimbursement or ability to pay. After Medicare/Medicaid certification, the need for community support remained because of this policy. Continued community support is essential so that HospiceCare may continue to serve patients who are not Medicare-eligible, who do not have adequate insurance or personal resources, or whose cost of care exceeds Medicare reimbursement. To raise community awareness and funds for hospice services while celebrating life, HospiceCare launched its first community-wide special event, "Light Up A Life," in December, 1986. Eighteen hundred lights were lit, each representing a$10 contribution in honor of a specific person, memorializing loved ones and providing funds to allow HospiceCare to help "light up" other lives. In its early stages, HospiceCare was unable to serve patients who were without a caregiver in the home. The Board of Directors recognized that HospiceCare must do whatever was necessary to provide hospice services to terminally ill people in these situations. In 1991, a major commitment was made to care for people without caregivers and those whose caregivers are physically or emotionally unable to care for the patient. This commitment continues today. In 1997, 26 percent of HospiceCare patients did not have a caregiver or had a caregiver with limited ability to provide assistance. In July 1995, after two years of deliberation, HospiceCare merged with Hospice Team Care of Janesville. With compatible missions and philosophies of service, the union of the separate entities led to maximum use of organizational resources. Both communities have benefited greatly from the merger. HospiceCare Inc. now provides clinical expertise and end-of-life education to greater numbers of people more efficiently and effectively. IV. HospiceCare Inc. Today HospiceCare Inc. serves greater South Central Wisconsin and is the only nonprofit hospice provider in Dane County. It has a professional staff of 120 employees, more than 500 volunteers, a $5 million budget and assets over $1 million. Patients with any terminal illness with a prognosis of 12 months or less to live and who no longer seek aggressive, curative treatment are eligible for HospiceCare services. Both cancer and non-cancer patients are appropriate for hospice. In 1995, 62 percent of all Dane County patients who died of cancer received HospiceCare services. At times during 1997, half of HospiceCare patients had a diagnosis other than cancer. Hospice care neither hastens nor postpones death; it manages pain and other symptoms so that patients may live as fully as possible until they die.