Our Mission
To care for individuals and families with compassion, support, and expertise as they navigate the end of life or life-changing illness.
Transitions LifeCare (TL), founded as Hospice of Wake County in 1979, provides health care and support services to seriously and terminally ill patients and their families. Created in response to an unmet community need for in-home care at end of life, Hospice of Wake County became the first and only non-profit organization in the region addressing the needs of terminally ill residents in their own homes. The agency's mission is to care for individuals and families with compassion, support, and expertise as they navigate the end of life or life-changing illness. Transitions LifeCare's philosophy is that every individual deserves the quality of life he or she wants when facing a serious illness or near life's end. Over the past 46 years, Transitions LifeCare has grown to serve the community through not only hospice care, but also palliative care, advanced planning, pediatric hospice care and grief counseling through Transitions Kids, bereavement support, caregiver support, as well as community education programs.
In 2009, the agency opened its campus featuring the region's first freestanding, 30-bed inpatient hospice facility, the William M. Dunlap Center for Caring (named for the agency's co-founder, Dr. William Dunlap). To reflect the growth in programs (not just hospice care) and service area (no longer just Wake County), in 2014 the agency became Transitions LifeCare. In 2015, the agency created a new program to serve children. Known as Transitions Kids, this program cares for children, in their own homes, from birth through age 18 who are facing a life-limiting or terminal illness. It is the only program in the region that provides this type of care, serving more than 200 children and their families annually, and more through our grief programs. In 2024, Transitions LifeCare served 8,000 children and adults from an eight-county service area — Wake, Chatham, Durham, Harnett, Johnston, Franklin, Chatham, and Orange counties, and more than 2,000 through our bereavement programs and support groups. In 2025, we recently expanded to 10 counties as we now offer our services in Nash and Wilson Counties.
The work of Transitions LifeCare is unduplicated. It is the only nonprofit, community hospice program headquartered in Wake County, and the most experienced hospice organization in the region. Our goal is to always be the organization of choice that people in our community turn to when they have the greatest needs. We are the only 4-star hospice in this region and have higher quality marks across the board than our competitors. Our beautiful inpatient hospice facility has touched the lives of thousands of patients and families. We are at the leading edge of new care models to expand access to care. We continue to invest in our community's needs through our comprehensive philanthropic strategy to support our Transitions Kids program, our indigent care program for adults and seniors, and bereavement services for their families and the community — to ensure all who are uninsured or underinsured may receive our care regardless of their financial circumstances.
Contact us today to learn how you can help us fulfill our mission. We would also greatly appreciate if you could give us your feedback to help us enhance our service to you.
