LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL - April 6, 2026 - Empath Health today announced the completion of Trustbridge's integration into its statewide network, finalizing a two-year affiliation that makes Empath Florida's largest non-profit hospice network and positions the organization to serve one in five hospice patients in Florida.
Trustbridge began in 1978 as two pioneering organizations, Hospice of Palm Beach County in West Palm Beach and Hospice by the Sea in Boca Raton, that helped define what compassionate end-of-life care looks like in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Both will carry forward under the name Empath Trustbridge Hospice: a name that preserves nearly five decades of community trust while connecting 1,400 colleagues, 565 volunteers, and approximately 11,000 patients and families each year to the clinical depth, specialized programming, and charitable resources of Empath's statewide network.
"Trustbridge built something rare: a culture of care so deeply embedded in its communities that it became part of the fabric of Palm Beach and Broward counties. That doesn't happen by accident, and it doesn't transfer by decree. You earn it over decades. Our job was to make sure everything Trustbridge built continues and grows stronger because of it," said Tarrah Lowry, Chief Operating Officer of Empath Health.
For patients and families in these service counties, the most immediate change is access to specialized dementia programming and grief care that meets people wherever they are in their health journey. That connected approach is what Empath calls Full Life Care, and Empath Trustbridge Hospice patients will have greater access to it as the network continues to expand across Florida.
"Integrating Trustbridge into Empath marks an important step toward the future of home‑based care in Florida. We are meeting people much earlier in their health journey and providing the support they need as their conditions become more complex. Empath Trustbridge Hospice will continue to honor the legacy built in Palm Beach and Broward counties while opening the door to broader services, stronger clinical support, and a clearer path for families to receive care wherever they call home," said Jonathan Fleece, President and CEO of Empath Health.
Empath Trustbridge Hospice joins Empath Health's One Hospice Model alongside Empath Suncoast Hospice in the Tampa Bay region, Empath Tidewell Hospice on the Southwest Florida coast, and Empath Hospice of Marion County in Ocala, four legacy non-profit organizations with 40 to 50 years of community roots, reaching more than 100,000 lives annually across 20 counties through 3,800 colleagues and 4,000 volunteers. The integration also unites four charitable foundations, Suncoast Hospice Foundation, Tidewell Foundation, Hospice of Marion County Foundation, and Trustbridge Foundation, collectively providing more than $17 million in annual charitable care supporting veterans' programs, dementia education, and grief counseling across their communities.
The Empath Trustbridge Hospice name will roll out across digital platforms and physical signage beginning in summer 2026.
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About Empath Health Empath Health is a pioneering non-profit health network redefining healthcare through Full Life Care, supporting chronic, post-acute, end-of-life, and grief care needs across Florida and beyond. Its full spectrum of services includes home health, palliative care, all-inclusive elder care (PACE), geriatric primary care, dementia education and care, HIV/STI prevention, grief support, and compassionate hospice care through seven programs: Empath Hospice, Hospice of Marion County, Suncoast Hospice, Suncoast Hospice of Hillsborough, Tidewell Hospice, and Trustbridge Hospice (Hospice by the Sea and Hospice of Palm Beach County). With decades of trusted service and deep community roots, Empath Health reaches more than 100,000 lives each year and serves one in five hospice patients statewide. For more information, visit EmpathHealth.org.