Sacred Mission Hospice
Keeping Care Personal

When hospice care becomes part of a family’s life, medical knowledge matters. So does the person delivering it. At Sacred Mission Hospice, Dr. Linda May, Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director, believes those two things should never be separated.

Dr. May’s connection to end-oflife care began before Sacred Mission existed. As a Plan II Honors student at the University of Texas at Austin, she wrote her thesis on pain management during end-of-life care. She later trained in family medicine and completed fellowships in geriatrics and hospice and palliative medicine. Those experiences shaped a belief: good hospice care starts with understanding the person, not the diagnosis.

The belief is visible in the way Sacred Mission works. Dr. May continues to see hospice patients in their homes. For her, being there matters because a home visit can reveal things that are easy to miss in a chart. A caregiver may be struggling with medication instructions. A family may have a concern they have not yet voiced. A care plan that looks appropriate on paper may not fit the realities of a household.

“I personally see hospice patients in their homes because being present helps me understand things a chart cannot convey,” says Dr. May.

That attention also explains Sacred Mission’s emphasis on manageable caseloads. The organization wants clinicians to have enough time to listen, assess changes, teach caregivers, and follow through when something needs attention. Its values—Compassionate, Trustworthy, and Reliable—are meant to be experienced by families, not simply displayed as words.

Care That Includes the Family

Hospice rarely involves only one person. A patient may be uncomfortable while a spouse is exhausted or an adult child is trying to understand what comes next. Sacred Mission brings nurses, physicians, hospice aides, social workers, chaplains, and bereavement support into that picture.

Each member of the team sees something different. A social worker may help with practical pressures or difficult decisions. A chaplain can support a family according to its beliefs. Nurses and physicians help caregivers understand what is happening.

Families should not have to figure out which professional to call. When a concern appears, the team works to recognize it and involve the right person.

Making Hospice Understandable

Sacred Mission also puts considerable weight on conversation. Dr. May begins by asking families what they believe is happening, what worries them, and what they hope hospice can accomplish. From there, the team explains recommendations in plain language, including possible benefits, burdens, and uncertainties.

The conversation may need to happen more than once. Circumstances, symptoms, and caregiver situations change. Sacred Mission revisits care plans as those changes occur rather than treating the original plan as fixed.

The approach extends to communication with referring physicians. The organization connects referral conversations with clinical review so families receive realistic expectations before admission and know who is responsible for follow-up.

Growing Without Losing the Mission

Sacred Mission began in 2023, when Dr. May and her family ran the hospice from their own home. The name itself came from her daughter, who suggested “Sacred Mission” when she was eight. For Dr. May, it captured what hospice work means: being invited into an intensely personal period of a family’s life and accepting the responsibility that comes with that trust.

Today, the organization is strengthening its structure as it grows, with staff education, clearer roles, quality review, and attention to caregiver feedback. It is also developing community-based palliative care to support people earlier in serious illness.

Named a Top Hospice Care Services 2026, Sacred Mission Hospice continues to build its approach around a straightforward idea: families should feel heard, informed, and cared for when they need it most.