Transitions LifeCare
Celebrating Life in the Triangle Since 1979
Transitions LifeCare offers guidance, resources, comfort, and hope to individuals and families as they navigate a life-changing illness.
When you discover that a loved one is facing a terminal illness, the world stops. Grief takes over. Thankfully, Raleigh families have access to Transitions LifeCare, the oldest, largest, and most experienced end-of-life care organization in the area, to help offer them guidance, resources, comfort, and hope
“One of the things I love about Transitions is that we are mission-focused,” says Dr. Adam Wolk, an internist who took the helm as chief executive officer in June of 2024 after a decade in management at Alignment Health, and six years on Transitions’ board of directors, the last one as president.
“Transitions cares for the entire community regardless of their ability to pay for services. We have deep roots in the Triangle,” explains Dr. Wolk. “We were one of the first hospices in North Carolina, founded in 1979 as Hospice of Wake County.”
Dr. Adam Wolk
The mission of Transitions LifeCare is to care for individuals and families with compassion, support, and expertise as they navigate the end of life or a life-changing illness. Today, with more than 450 employees and hundreds of volunteers, the organization serves patients in ten counties: Wake, Johnston, Franklin, Durham, Orange, Harnett, Chatham, Granville, Wilson and Nash.
A bereavement program helps families cope with the grief of losing a loved one.
“We try to create a positive environment for people to work in. We take care of our employees the same way we take care of our patients,” says Dr. Wolk. “I’ve been inspired by our team’s commitment to providing dignified, person-centered care. I could see all of that from serving on the board. I was ready to make a change, so I jumped at the opportunity to lead the organization.”
The nonprofit’s accomplishments include opening Wake County’s first inpatient hospice facility in 2010 – the William D. Dunlap Center for Caring, known as Hospice Home. Today the home offers 30 beds to support both children and adults. Each room has its own bathroom and a common area for families to gather.
“It’s a beautiful campus right in the middle of Raleigh that borders an NC State research farm. We have wide open spaces and a lot of fun neighbors like goats, sheep, and sheep-herding dogs so our patients can go outside to look at the farmland. It’s great for families, especially those with young kids,” says Dr. Wolk.
Transitions has been a TowneBank member since 2004 and has benefited from the generosity of the TowneBank Foundation. “TowneBank’s first gift to us was when we were building our Hospice Home,” says Dr. Wolk. “They have been a huge supporter of ours and we are so grateful. We depend on the goodwill of the community to keep these programs going.”
Transitions introduced a children-specific program in 2015 called Transitions Kids to care for the region’s youngest and most vulnerable patients facing a terminal illness. These illnesses can range from a congenital illness (birth defect), a neurological illness like Parkinson's disease, cancer, or a heart condition.
Transitions Kids served over 200 children in the community last year. According to Dr. Wolk, the program is a great example of the depth of support Transitions can provide to families at this extremely difficult time in their lives. They also offer a bereavement program to help families cope with their grief.
Hospice Home is surrounded by green spaces and farmland with goats and sheep so patients can enjoy time outdoors.
“When a child is sick, the entire family is affected so that requires a lot of support from social work assistance and community resources to intensive nursing care and clinical care. And we provide this care to families in their homes rather than in a clinic-based program like many others do across the country,” adds Dr. Wolk.
Transitions LifeCare manages Hospice Home with 30 rooms to support children and adults.
While nonprofit end-of-life care organizations are facing increased competition from their for-profit counterparts, key differences remain. “We take care of patients who are indigent and uninsured,” explains Dr. Wolk. “Both our pediatric and our community bereavement programs are something that our for-profit competitors don’t have. It’s very meaningful work. We’ve built an organization that gives back to the community. I believe in servant leadership. Everybody’s role is important. My job as a leader is to get out of the way and let our team members who are working with our patients in the community direct that care and shine.”
For more information, visit TransitionsLifeCare.org.