David Lance, DO, has been an integral member of the Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare care team for three decades. At the end of 2020, Dr. Lance retired after a career of service for nearly 30 years, which includes serving as medical director since 2005. 

Dr. Lance’s leadership and care for patients will be greatly missed, but he leaves behind a powerful legacy of providing superior, compassionate care to thousands of patients and families, mentoring countless staff and educating the community about palliative and hospice care. 

Staff describe him as dedicated, kind, authentic, relatable and passionate. “Dr. Lance is hospice,” said Kurt Holmes, executive director of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare. “He has a calm, patient and reassuring nature. He has helped countless patients and families through the end of life.” 

Since joining Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, Dr. Lance has witnessed incredible change and growth. When he started, there were four patients on hospice services. Today, Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare serves an average of 240 patients. The mission of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare has stayed the same — to celebrate the lives of those we have the privilege of serving by providing superior care and superior services to each patient and family. 

“Dr. Lance has been intimately involved in Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare’s vision of serving our community for nearly 30 years,” said Katherine Ritchie, gift officer at Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare. “From when our office was just one room in a building to moving to our current location, the care for our patients and the mission of hospice care truly embodies Dr. Lance’s service.” 

Dr. Lance is grateful for the opportunity to work with the staff, patients and families of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare. 

“I work with some of the best people in the world,” he said. “There’s always been a vision for doing new things, expanding, growing and offering new services. This is something I can identify with and something that makes me proud to be part of this organization.” 

Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare is grateful for Dr. Lance’s decades of service. His kindness, compassion and servant leadership reflect the mission and values of the not-for-profit hospice organization. He has been an integral part of furthering the mission of Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare through his focus on serving patients and families with an accessible and approachable manner. 

 “I’d like to be remembered as someone who inspired other people, who is consistent, and who has personal integrity,” Dr. Lance said. “Those are the things that are important to me.” 

Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, a not-for-profit organization established in 1982, is an affiliate of Ohio’s Hospice that serves communities in Wayne, Holmes, Ashland and Medina counties. It embodies the spirit of neighbors caring for neighbors with a commitment to relieve suffering, ease fears, and provide companionship along life’s last journey. Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare addresses patient and family needs wherever the patient calls home. Services also include access to the Stanley C. and Flo K. Gault Inpatient Pavilion, providing short-term patient care to manage acute symptoms, adjust medications, or stabilize patient condition.