Three caregivers from the Institute for Human Caring recently earned prestigious state and national awards for their respective work in palliative and whole person care.
Suzanne Engelder, MSW, ASW, received a 2018 Compassionate Care Leadership Award from the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California (CCCC).
The CCCC honors a California leader in palliative and end-of-life care whose work has improved the care for seriously-ill patients and their families. She received the award at a recent CCCC ceremony in Anaheim, Calif.
Engelder, who recently replaced Yvonne Corbeil as the Institute’s director of education and development, has worked in hospice and palliative care for decades and previously served as program manager for the Center for Advance Care Planning and Advocacy at Providence St. Joseph Health in Orange County, Calif.
Her impressive accomplishments as program manager for the center included:
- expanding three electronic health record systems for advance care planning documentation, billing and referrals
- creating a Choose Well program with video production for caregivers
- developing and supported community engagement for advance care planning and palliative care
- developing aid-in-dying resources for staff and providers
- designing and managing a website for program promotion and community education
“Suzanne was a stellar one-woman show for the Center for Advance Care Planning and Advocacy,” said Ira Byock, M.D., founder and chief medical officer of the Institute for Human Caring. “We are blessed to have someone with her talent, passion and credentials as part of our team.”
The Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) selected Matthew Gonzales, M.D., chief medical information officer at the Institute for Human Caring, as a 2018 Tomorrow’s Leaders recipient.
The award honors dedicated, high-performing individuals who already have demonstrated commitment to advancing the mission of Catholic health care.
Dr. Gonzales, a software engineer-turned palliative care physician, impressed CHA judges with his ongoing collaboration across Providence St. Joseph Health to customize the electronic health record system (Epic), making it easier to document goals-of-care conversations and advance care planning. He also has worked closely with Xealth, which allows physicians to “prescribe” ACP Decisions videos from Epic directly into patient MyChart accounts.
CHA will honor Dr. Gonzales and other honorees during a ceremony at the annual Catholic Health Assembly, June 10-12, in San Diego. Awardees also will be invited to participate in an exclusive leadership formation retreat, prior to the assembly, which brings them face-to-face with senior leaders from across CHA.
Last fall, Dr. Gonzales was among 10 physicians and nurses named into Cambia Health Foundation’s national 2017 Sojourns Scholar Leadership Program. The Sojourns program cultivates and advances the next generation of palliative care leaders from across the country.
Each scholar receives a two-year, $180,000 grant to support research, clinical, educational or policy projects. Scholars also receive mentoring and leadership training.
Gregg VandeKieft, M.D., MA, earned a highly competitive 2018 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award, in the senior physician category.
Dr. VandeKieft is medical director for palliative care, Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia, Wash., clinical associate professor of family medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, and associate medical director of the Palliative Practice Group overseen by the Institute for Human Caring.
As the judges noted, he expanded several palliative care programs in southwest Washington, including in rural areas where few existed. Dr. VandeKieft also was recognized for exhibiting exceptional talent for compassionately communicating with patients, families, and fellow physicians, including about physician-assisted death, which is legal in Washington State.
“Palliative care isn’t about the end of life, it’s about the fullness of life, and allowing people to live it as fully as possible,” Dr. VandeKieft says of his practice.
Dr. VandeKieft will receive $25,000 and will be honored at an upcoming ceremony in the Seattle area.
The Cunniff-Dixon Foundation, whose mission is to enrich the relationship of doctors and patients who are near the end of life, created and funds the awards. The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute that has done groundbreaking work on end-of-life decision-making, cosponsors the awards. Duke University Divinity School’s Program in Medicine, Theology, and Culture oversees the selection process.