For Immediate Release: January 18, 2012

NHPCO Welcomes Board of Directors for 2012

(Alexandria, Va) – The Board of Directors for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization are gathering in Ft. Myers, Florida on January 28-29 for the first official board meeting of 2012.

Mark Murray, of The Center for Hospice Care in South Bend, Indiana continues in his second year as board-chair. The other board officers are J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO, Ronald Fried, vice-chair, of VITAS Innovative Hospice Care (headquartered in Miami, FL), Kavin Cartmell, secretary, of Hospice of Hope (Maysville, KY), and Samira Beckwith of Hope Healthcare Services in Ft. Myers serving as treasurer.

Joining these board officers to form the executive committee are the board chairs of NHPCO’s affiliate organizations, Mary Labyak, chair of the National Hospice Foundation, and Shareefah Sabur, chair of FHSSA. Sally Adelus, Hospice of the Valley (San Jose, CA), Susan Lloyd, of Delaware Hospice in Wilmington, and Linda Rock, Prairie Haven Hospice (Scottsbluff, NE) serve as at-large members on the executive committee. 

Joining the board for the first time in 2012 are Russell Portenoy of Metropolitan Jewish Hospice and Palliative Care (New York, NY), and Ken Zeri of Hospice Hawai'i in Honolulu.

NHPCO extends special thanks to the board members who concluded service in 2011, Gretchen Brown, the immediate past-chair, and Robert Lefton.

“NHPCO thanks all the new and existing board members for their committed service on behalf of hospice and palliative care and the nation’s diverse end-of-life community,” said J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of NHPCO. “Board members come from programs that vary in size, serve urban and rural areas, and represent single-site and multi-state providers. We also have expertise from academic institutions and other nonprofit organizations. We all share a common goal to improve care at the end of life.”

NHPCO is the largest nonprofit membership organization representing hospice and palliative care programs and professionals in the United States. The organization is committed to improving end of life care and expanding access to hospice care with the goal of profoundly enhancing quality of life for people dying in America and their loved ones.

A list of NHPCO’s full board of directors is available in the “About NHPCO” section of the organization’s Web site, nhpco.org.

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Contact:
Jon Radulovic
Vice President, Communications
Ph: 703-837-3139