COLUMBUS, Ohio — The next chapter in end-of-life care in central Ohio began today with the dedication of the new Kobacker House at Ohio’s Hospice at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical under the Kobacker Way: a covenant for hospice with humanity.

At a ceremony on June 12 at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, leaders of Ohio’s Hospice, the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, and the Kobacker family unveiled the new logo for “Ohio’s Hospice at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center – A Kobacker House.” The event celebrated the next chapter for the Kobacker House and the promise that nonprofit, mission-driven hospice care will continue in Central Ohio for generations to come.

“How a community cares for its dying is the truest measure of its soul,” said Alfred Kobacker, founder and honorary chair of the Kobacker family’s hospice legacy. “The promise our family made does not end. It continues — and it grows — under Ohio’s Hospice and Ohio State. I could not be more grateful, or more at peace, knowing this legacy is in such good hands.”

The partnership brings together three organizations around a common commitment to nonprofit hospice care. Ohio’s Hospice is the largest nonprofit hospice in Ohio and the fifth largest in the United States. The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center is one of the nation’s leading academic medical centers, with longstanding programs in hospice and palliative medicine clinical care, education and research. Together with the Kobacker family, the partners are building what they describe as a national model for mission-driven, nonprofit, academic hospice care.

“We were not handed an asset — we were entrusted with a covenant,” said Kent Anderson, President and CEO of Ohio’s Hospice. “The Kobacker Way is the standard we hold ourselves to at every bedside, in every home, in every community we serve. And it is what we intend to carry, over time, to additional Ohio’s Hospice inpatient facilities — so that this becomes not the legacy of one house, but the standard for many.”

A defining feature of the new partnership is the integration of hospice care into the full academic mission of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center — patient care, research, and education working together. Under the new Kobacker House, the next generation of physicians, nurses, chaplains, and social workers will learn the Kobacker Way of caring for someone at the end of life.

“The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center is committed to excellence across our patient care, research and education missions. By bringing hospice into an academic medical setting, this partnership with Ohio’s Hospice and the Kobacker family is advancing world-class compassionate end-of-life care that is strengthened by discovery and learning,” said John J. Warner, MD, CEO of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and executive vice president at Ohio State. “We are proud to be the new home for Kobacker House and even prouder to be the partner where its next chapter begins.”

At the heart of the partnership is the Kobacker Way — a moral framework and operational covenant – that is both philosophy and practice. Its nine core principles are: nonprofit integrity, unyielding dignity, family as partner, home-at-heart with expert-at-hand, relief before cure, equitable access, volunteer partnership, learning and accountability, and community covenant. The Kobacker Way also carries a concrete financial commitment: a minimum of 70 cents of every dollar directed to direct patient care and family support, surpassing national nonprofit benchmarks, with any surplus reinvested entirely into care, training, research, and community — never into investor returns.

The Kobacker Way grew from the founding philosophy of the original Kobacker House, opened in 1989 as one of the first freestanding inpatient hospice homes in the United States. More than three decades later, the family regards the hospice as both legacy and responsibility.

“The logo we unveiled today is beautiful,” said Renée Sparks, RN, Chief Nursing Officer of Ohio’s Hospice. “But the nurses, the aides, the volunteers — they are the Kobacker Way. They always have been. What the Kobacker Way does is put that in writing, and give them an institution standing behind the values they already carry in their hands.”

The new Kobacker House logo is the first visual expression of The Kobacker Way, representing the values that have guided the Kobacker family's commitment to hospice care for more than four decades. Its interwoven design symbolizes the connection between patients, families, caregivers, volunteers, and the community, while four elements within the mark reflect the core principles of human dignity, mission over margin, whole-person and whole-family care, and hospice as a communal act.

The ceremony marks the beginning of a longer journey. The partners have identified as a long-term aspiration collaborating on a new, purpose-built, freestanding Kobacker House in central Ohio — designed to unite inpatient hospice care with medical education and research under one roof. No site, timeline, or capital campaign has been announced; the partners describe the vision as aspirational and say that today’s naming is the first step toward making it real.

The partnership carries significance beyond the institutions directly involved. In the early 1980s, most hospices were community-based nonprofits founded by nurses, clergy, and volunteers. Today, roughly three-quarters of hospices in the United States operate as for-profit corporations — a shift the Kobacker family has spoken about publicly as a departure from the founding mission of the hospice movement. 

Research published in 2025 found that private-equity-backed hospices report the highest profit margins and the lowest spending on patient care, while nonprofit hospices devote substantially more of their revenue to bedside services. The partners describe their model as proof that the original nonprofit mission of hospice care can not only survive, but be strengthened.

To learn more about the Kobacker Way, visit https://www.ohioshospice.org/newark/the-kobacker-way/.

About Ohio’s Hospice
Ohio’s Hospice is the largest nonprofit hospice organization in Ohio and the fifth largest nonprofit hospice in the United States. Ohio’s Hospice is a network of community-based nonprofit hospices committed to clinical quality, patient and family satisfaction, and nonprofit governance. For more information, visit ohioshospice.org.

About The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
One of the United States’ leading academic medical centers, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center offers healthcare services in virtually every specialty and subspecialty in medicine. We anchor one of the most comprehensive health sciences campuses in North America and are nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report. The medical center’s 23,000 physicians, scientists and staff are dedicated to providing world-class care for every person, every time; to delivering relentless innovation to improve lives; and to making this the best place to work and learn. For more information, visit wexnermedical.osu.edu.

About the Kobacker Family and the Kobacker Way
The Kobacker family has been a leading force in nonprofit hospice care in central Ohio for nearly four decades. In 1989, the family helped establish Kobacker House, one of the nation’s pioneering freestanding inpatient hospice facilities. In December 2025, the family formalized the Kobacker Way — a nine-principle covenant for hospice care with humanity. Family members who carry the legacy forward include Alfred Kobacker, Aronson Kobacker, Cathe Kobacker, Charlette Allred, and James Kobacker. For more information, visit TheKobackerWay.org.