Meet our CEO
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Mary J. Labyak, MSSW, LCSW
President & CEO
Mary Labyak has been the leader of The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast since 1980, when she became its program director. Her work with the organization began in 1977, when she joined other volunteers in seeking to find better ways of caring for people at the end of life. She became the agency's president and CEO in 1983. Under her leadership, The Hospice has grown from a small group of volunteers and staff into the leading not-for-profit community-based hospice known for its innovation and unprecedented continuum of programs and services. More than 1,300 employees and 3,000 volunteers care for more than 2,500 patients and their families each day in The Hospice's Pinellas County community.
A nationally-recognized expert in hospice and palliative care, Ms. Labyak is sought after as a spokeswoman and has held leadership roles in state and national hospice organizations. In recent years, she has been called upon to help shape legislative views on end-of-life issues. And she was appointed to the prestigious Florida Panel on End-of-Life Care, established by the state legislature. Through her untiring efforts in the health care field, Ms. Labyak has fostered national and international acclaim for The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast and the hospice movement in general. Ms. Labyak currently serves as secretary of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Board of Directors, and president of the Florida Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
A recipient of many awards for her efforts on behalf of dying people and their families, Ms. Labyak has been named to the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York and was a recipient of the National Hospice Organization's Heart of Hospice Award. Under her leadership, The Hospice of the Florida Suncoast was a recipient of the first ever Circle of Life Award from the American Hospital Association and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In addition, Ms. Labyak was named to the Tampa Bay Women's Business Hall of Fame in 2006.