When the position of Medical Director at Treasure Coast Hospice opened in May 2019, Rose Guilbe, M.D., accepted the challenge. Emphasizing compassion and quality, Guilbe enhanced Treasure Coast Hospice’s medical team by hiring community physicians and Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners to help guide patients’ journey in life while preparing them for limited life expectancy. Her initial mission was to create a strong work force that not only practices the highest of ethical and professional standards of patient care, but complies with Federal, State and local laws respecting the health and safety of hospice patients. Recently, she was directly responsible for creating an education curriculum along with classroom instruction for hospice RNs and CNAs to prepare for certification in Hospice and Palliative Care. During the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Guilbe led the organization in developing a special task force to ensure healthcare workers on the frontlines were kept safe, along with patients and families.

Upon graduating medical school in 1987, Dr. Guilbe pursued a residency in Family Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center’s Department of Family and Social Medicine. After completing her degree in 1990, Dr. Guilbe immediately went on to serve a four-year commitment as a National Health Service Corp scholar in Florida. From 1990 through 1994 she worked at the Winter Garden Family Health Center and was featured in the Orlando Sentinel for her dedication to primary care and Migrant Health.

In 1994, she returned to her New York roots at Montefiore Medical Center to serve as Medical Director of all Inpatient Family Medicine services and one of the first Family Medicine hospitalists in the country. As a Clinician Educator her expanded roles consisted of curriculum development, mentoring the LGBTQ community, Bioethics teaching, publishing multiple articles in national journals, and ongoing Post Graduate Training in the fields of Urban Family Medicine and Harvard Advanced Palliative Care. Dr. Guilbe has presented nationally at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and holds an academic appointment of Associate Clinical Professor in Family Medicine. Recognized in several U.S. magazines, including “The Best Family Doctors in America 2002”, “The Best Doctors in New York 1998”, and “Top Doctors in New York Metro area” for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004, Dr. Guilbe continues to practice medicine with the highest of ethical and clinical standards, expecting the same of all colleagues. She remains a Diplomat of the American Academy of Family Medicine with multiple licensures of the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine for two separate disciplines of Hospice Medical Director along with Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Dr. Guilbe spends her time between New York and Florida, hoping to bring her son and mother here. “I inherited my intelligence from my dad but, everything else including strength, compassion and determination were adopted from my mom, who retired at the age of 82 after more than 40 years with the NYC Board of Education.” She finds her greatest satisfaction in her work with hospice patients and families. “I was recently asked, “what do you enjoy the most from the hospice work you do?” It is standing at a distance and enjoying the view of an elderly couple holding hands as one of them takes their last breath or standing in a room with extended family members of my patient who no longer responds, as they play music and sing songs to their loved one … this is what skips my beat.’’

Rose Guilbe, M.D., HMDC
Medical Director at Treasure Coast Hospice
TreasureHealth.org

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