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Local Hospice History

An Oral History of End-of-Life Care in Connecticut's Northwest Corner

Voices of Hospice

On March 29, 2026, two pioneering nurses sat down with journalist Kristin Ewald, to share what they had witnessed across six decades of care. Louisa LaFontan and Donna DiMartino helped shape hospice care in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner — from the early days of Sharon Hospital’s first intensive care unit to the movement that would transform how Americans die. Press play to hear their story in their own words.

▶  Listen · 30 minutes

Louisa LaFontan & Donna DiMartino with Kristin Ewald  ·  March 29, 2026

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Louisa LaFontain<br /> Donna DiMartino
Louisa LaFontan and Donna DiMartino, pioneers of hospice care in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner, photographed in 2026

Photo: Courtesy of Kristin Ewald

Louisa LaFontain<br /> Donna DiMartino
Louisa LaFontan and Donna DiMartino, pioneers of hospice care in Connecticut’s Northwest Corner, photographed in 2026

Photo: Courtesy of Kristin Ewald

Two pioneers, one story

Louisa LaFontan was born in 1939 and moved with her family to Kent, Connecticut at the age of two. Donna DiMartino was born in Sharon in 1952. Both women came of age in the Northwest Corner and chose nursing — a profession that would lead them to the front lines of a quiet revolution in how Americans care for the dying.
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Louisa LaFontaine

Louisa LaFontan, RN, Sharon Hospital. She founded the hospital’s first intensive care unit in 1965 and went on to lead its pioneering hospice program.

Photo: Courtesy of Louisa LaFontan

A nurse who changed things

After graduating from Columbia-Presbyterian School of Nursing in 1961, Louisa joined Sharon Hospital in 1965. With the support of Dr. Roland Smith, she established the hospital’s first intensive care unit — converting a men’s ward and training an entire generation of nurses. Dr. Carl Bornemann taught her everything she knew about electrocardiograms. She then taught those same skills to others.

A nurse who changed things

After graduating from Columbia University’s School of Nursing in 1961, Louisa joined Sharon Hospital in 1965. With the support of Dr. Roland Smith, she established the hospital’s first intensive care unit — converting a men’s ward and training an entire generation of nurses. Dr. Carl Bornemann taught her everything she knew about electrocardiograms. She then taught those same skills to others.
Louisa LaFontaine

Louisa LaFontan, RN, Sharon Hospital. She founded the hospital’s first intensive care unit in 1965 and went on to lead its pioneering hospice program.

Photo: Courtesy of Louisa LaFontan

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Donna with her son, Stephen in 1974

Growing up in the 1960’s Donna (with her son, Stephen in 1974) says she just wanted to be “foot-loose and fancy free.” Her parents felt otherwise, so off she went to earn a degree from the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing. Today, she says, “It was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

Photo: Courtesy of Donna DiMartino

Focus on saving lives

“When hospice was first introduced, the idea that you wouldn’t treat a dying patient aggressively was foreign to a lot of people. But over time, we recognized that by giving the patient a chance to talk and focus on what they wanted, we learned that sometimes people didn’t want to be cured. They just wanted to be cared for.”

Donna with her son, Stephen in 1974

Growing up in the 1960’s Donna (with her son, Stephen in 1974) says she just wanted to be “foot-loose and fancy free.” Her parents felt otherwise, so off she went to earn a degree from the Hartford Hospital School of Nursing. Today, she says, “It was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

Photo: Courtesy of Donna DiMartino

Focus on saving lives

“When hospice was first introduced, the idea that you wouldn’t treat a dying patient aggressively was foreign to a lot of people. But over time, we recognized that by giving the patient a chance to talk and focus on what they wanted, we learned that sometimes people didn’t want to be cured. They just wanted to be cared for.”

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Nurse Training
Nursing education in mid-century America. When Louisa and Donna trained, nurses were expected to defer entirely to physicians — a culture both women helped change.z

Photo: Columbia University Health Sciences Library

The hospital culture of the era

When Louisa and Donna began their careers, nurses were expected to defer entirely to physicians. Donna recalls being pinned against a wall by a doctor demanding to know why temperature readings were not in the log. Louisa was sent back to change out of her blue-striped Columbia-Presbyterian uniform by a physician who called it ‘inappropriate.’ The culture was strict — but it was changing.

The hospital culture of the era

When Louisa and Donna began their careers, nurses were expected to defer entirely to physicians. Donna recalls being pinned against a wall by a doctor demanding to know why temperature readings were not in the log. Louisa was sent back to change out of her blue-striped Columbia-Presbyterian uniform by a physician who called it ‘inappropriate.’ The culture was strict — but it was changing.
Nurse Training

Nursing education in mid-century America. When Louisa and Donna trained, nurses were expected to defer entirely to physicians — a culture both women helped change.

Photo: Columbia University Health Sciences Library

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Louise LaFontain& Dr Carl Bornemann

Louisa LaFontan with Dr. Carl Bornemann at Sharon Hospital. Dr. Bornemann taught Louisa the EKG expertise she would pass on to a generation of ICU nurses.

Photo: Courtesy of the Sharon Historical Society

Learning to read the heart

Dr. Carl Bornemann loved cardiology and he loved teaching. He would arrive at the ICU with long paper strips of EKG readings — and if there was an interesting autopsy in the basement, he would ask Louisa if she could get off duty to come see it, so he could show her a coronary artery. ‘That’s where all my coronary artery knowledge came from,’ Louisa recalls. She went on to teach those same EKG classes to nurses across the region.
Louise LaFontain& Dr Carl Bornemann

Louisa LaFontan with Dr. Carl Bornemann at Sharon Hospital. Dr. Bornemann taught Louisa the EKG expertise she would pass on to a generation of ICU nurses.

Photo: Courtesy of the Sharon Historical Society

Learning to read the heart

Dr. Carl Bornemann loved cardiology and he loved teaching. He would arrive at the ICU with long paper strips of EKG readings — and if there was an interesting autopsy in the basement, he would ask Louisa if she could get off duty to come see it, so he could show her a coronary artery. ‘That’s where all my coronary artery knowledge came from,’ Louisa recalls. She went on to teach those same EKG classes to nurses across the region.
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Claudia Warner
Claudia Haines Warner (1924–2006), Sharon, CT. Her determination to relieve her son’s suffering set the hospice movement in motion across the Northwest Corner.

Photo: Courtesy of the Sharon Historical Society

A mothers determination

Claudia Haines Warner lived on Low Road in Sharon with her husband and four children. When her son, Peter, was diagnosed with leukemia and she watched him endure inadequate pain management, something shifted. ‘You couldn’t have your medicine unless it was past four hours,’ Donna recalls. ‘And as a mother who saw her child in pain, she quite rightly got upset about it.’ Instead of directing her frustration at those around her, Claudia went looking for the people who could help.

She formed the first hospice steering committee in the Northwest Corner, inviting Louisa to join. Louisa had recently attended a lecture by Florence Wald — Dean of the Yale School of Nursing and the mother of the American hospice movement — and returned inspired.

A mothers determination

Claudia Haines Warner lived on Low Road in Sharon with her husband and four children. When her son, Peter, was diagnosed with leukemia and she watched him endure inadequate pain management, something shifted. ‘You couldn’t have your medicine unless it was past four hours,’ Donna recalls. ‘And as a mother who saw her child in pain, she quite rightly got upset about it.’ Instead of directing her frustration at those around her, Claudia went looking for the people who could help.

She formed the first hospice steering committee in the Northwest Corner, inviting Louisa to join. Louisa had recently attended a lecture by Florence Wald — Dean of the Yale School of Nursing and the mother of the American hospice movement — and returned inspired.

Claudia Warner

Claudia Haines Warner (1924–2006), Sharon, CT. Her determination to relieve her son’s suffering set the hospice movement in motion across the Northwest Corner.

Photo: Courtesy of the Sharon Historical Society

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Florence Wald

Florence Wald (1917-2008), Dean of the Yale School of Nursing and founder of the American hospice movement. In 1974, she established the first free-standing hospice in the United States, in Branford, Connecticut.

Photo: MiraSol Health

A new way of caring

Florence Wald was Dean of the Yale School of Nursing when she grew increasingly frustrated with the way dying patients were being cared for. She took a leave from Yale to train in London with Dame Cicely Saunders, who in 1967, had founded the world’s first modern hospice. Inspired by what she witnessed, Wald returned to Connecticut, pushed for changes to Yale’s nursing curriculum, and began speaking out about the need for compassionate end-of-life care — efforts that culminated in the establishment of Connecticut’s first hospice.

Her lectures changed the direction of Louisa’s work, and by extension, the care available to dying patients across the Northwest Corner.

Florence Wald

Florence Wald (1917-2008), Dean of the Yale School of Nursing and founder of the American hospice movement. In 1974, she established the first free-standing hospice in the United States, in Branford, Connecticut.

Photo: MiraSol Health

A new way of caring

Florence Wald was Dean of the Yale School of Nursing when she grew increasingly frustrated with the way dying patients were being cared for. She took a leave from Yale to train in London with Dame Cicely Saunders, who in 1967,  had founded the world’s first modern hospice. Inspired by what she witnessed, Wald returned to Connecticut, pushed for changes to Yale’s nursing curriculum, and began speaking out about the need for compassionate end-of-life care — efforts that culminated in the establishment of Connecticut’s first hospice.

Her lectures changed the direction of Louisa’s work, and by extension, the care available to dying patients across the Northwest Corner

Full Circle Moment


During this interview, Louisa recalled a quiet moment when she was serving as a hospice volunteer for Helen Riley — a surgical technician who had spent her career in the OR and still had stories to tell right up to the end. There was a knock at the door. It was Dr. Gallup, Helen's physician, coming simply to say goodbye.

"He sat right down with us," Louisa recalled. "And it made all the difference to Helen to have Dr. Gallup there."

What Louisa didn't know then was that Dr. Gallup's daughter, Cristin, would one day become a hospice nurse herself — and the Executive Director of East Mountain House. The circle, it seems, was already closing.


Special Thanks


Special thanks to Podcaster, Michael Small, who generously donated his audio-editing talents to this preservation project. https://www.throwitoutpodcast.com
And to, Kristin Ewald, former Senior Editor at Time, Incorporated.

Recorded March 29, 2026  ·  Interviewer: Kristin Ewald