Hospice Pioneer Dr. Bill Rock Named Agrace HospiceCare Medical Director Emeritus

MADISON, Wis. – Agrace HospiceCare announced today that after practicing medicine in the Madison area for more than 50 years, medical director Dr. Bill Rock is transitioning to a new role as the nonprofit hospice’s first medical director emeritus. While he will be retired, the status will entitle Dr. Rock to continue to interact with staff, visit with patients and remain an active member of the Agrace community. He will also continue to maintain an office at the Agrace HospiceCare campus in Fitchburg.  

Consistently referred to as one of the last doctors to make house calls, Dr. Rock volunteered his services as a medical director at Agrace until the Medicare Hospice Benefit of 1983 initiated a system for reimbursing for hospice services. He became the organization’s first official medical director in 1984 and has been with Agrace ever since.  Dr. Rock is also a medical director emeritus at Dean Medical Center, S.C., and a staff member at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center. A member of the Ethics Committee at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center since 1980, he has chaired that committee since 1988. He also sits on the Ethics Committee at Agrace and plans to continue as a member. 

Named Madison Magazine Person of the Year in 2010, Dr. Rock has shared his time generously in helping others become comfortable with the concepts that death is a part of life and that a life can be lived fully to its end. Hospice, he says, is a way to make those last months as enjoyable as possible. “I like to think it’s a way to make one’s life credible,” says Rock. 

Contact: Liz Kopling, Media Specialist
Office: (608) 327-7219   Cell: (608) 772-9653

Agrace HospiceCare has been providing physical, emotional and spiritual support to patients and families dealing with life-limiting conditions for more than 30 years. Formerly known as HospiceCare Inc., Agrace HospiceCare is a nonprofit, community-based hospice that took on its new name in 2011. With offices in Madison and Janesville, Agrace HospiceCare serves residents in Dane, Green, Jefferson, Rock and Walworth counties. For more information, visit agracehospicecare.org.

###