Looking back over 2008, we think we can all agree that it was a year we won’t soon forget. Change is certainly one of the themes of the past year. Yet so is consistency. The demand for health care at the end of life continues, but the need for those with limited financial wherewithal has never been greater. The area we serve is vast. More than 1,800 patients and families from Los Angeles and Orange counties – from the northern tip by Ventura County, to the southern end of Orange County – were cared for under hospice in 2008, a year in which The Gathering Place counseled more than 850 people from the South Bay.