The trust was established by a small group of clinicians and volunteers in April 1986, and general manager Ginny Green said its values had not changed.
"I think the value of being very much a part of a community remains really true.
"Some of the more practical side of running a hospice has changed with the changing nature of health in its entirety, really.
"And all those things that happen in other specialties, like moving out of hospital-based settings into community settings, has happened for us."
The trust’s first facility opened in 1990 in George St.
They eventually moved to a larger premises in North East Valley and now supported more than 1000 people all over the Otago region.
At any given time, there are around 280 families on the hospice service across Otago.
"What started out as a small inpatient unit has, over the years, morphed into a huge community service.
"So most of the services that we deliver are in people's homes.
"We've transitioned over mainly the last 20 years; we've seen a really significant change to our model of care."
The approach to hospice care had become more sophisticated, she said.
"There's been some amazing innovations that have been driven by really smart, clever, committed clinicians.
"I'm particularly proud of the services around carer education, which we call our CORE5 programme and our aged residential care, which is now our residential care support programme."
The early years were defined by a passion for good care, Ms Green said.
"Geoff Mirkin, who was one of the original trustees, had a real passion for good care and he championed for it here in Dunedin and Otago.
"Geoff saw the need in the community to have a place that wasn't a very clinical, sterile setting like most hospital wards are."
There have been a lot of changes in hospice care over the past 40 years, as attitudes towards it changed, Ms Green said.
"We do see a lot of patients that have got cancer, but we also see a lot of patients that have got other life-limiting illnesses as well.
"So that's something that's really changed."
The organisation has to raise several million dollars a year to keep going, which was why its large network of hospice stores were so important, along with the support of families who had members go through the care process, Ms Green said.
"I think the heart still remains with the people.
"So wherever you are, wherever a patient and family are, hospice can be there with them.
"I think that's probably the biggest change, is that it's less about a building and more about a package of services.
"I'm very proud of the way our community has embraced us, and our reputation has grown because of the numbers of patients that we've touched.
"The community feels like we are their asset, which we are."
