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GASTONIA, N.C. -- A well-known assisted suicide activist is making plans to open a “right-to-die” hospice in Gastonia. The Rev. George Exoo says he wants to help terminally ill people end their lives in a quick and painless manner but some in the medical community are concerned about his plans.

"I think it's the reason I'm placed on this planet," Exoo told a film crew in the documentary “Reverend Death.”

Over the years, Exoo says he's directly helped more than 100 people end their lives. He's assisted an additional 20 over the phone. It's difficult for him but he says he does it because no one should die alone.

"I have a heart and a passion for those people, and so reaching out to them may be in the spirit of the Good Samaritan. That's why I do this,” he said.

At the facility in Gastonia – he’s looking at a home on West Circle -- Exoo says he plans to help people with terminal and debilitating illnesses end their lives.

"This is for people who live in jurisdictions and states like Georgia and Mississippi, Florida, and New York, where having assistance with an intentioned death is not legal," he said.

North Carolina is one of four states that doesn't have a statute criminalizing physician-assisted suicide.

"Although there's not a statute criminalizing physician-assisted suicide, it still is not condoning physician-assisted suicide as the best alternative for dealing with these complex, chronic pain, end-of-life issues," said Gerald M. Aronoff, MD, who opposes Exoo’s plan.

Exoo says the project in Gastonia will take at least a year to get going. News 14 Carolina is still waiting to hear back from city officials on the future of the proposed project.

In 2007, Exoo spent four months in a West Virginia jail in connection with the death of a woman he assisted in Dublin. A court later ruled he could not be forced to return to Ireland.