PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL AWARD RECEIVED FOR EXCELLENCE IN PALLIATIVE AND END-OF-LIFE CARE

The Center for Hospice & Palliative Care Recognized

July 11, 2011, Cheektowaga, NY - The Center for Hospice & Palliative Care (CHPC) today was named a Circle of Life Award^® Winner.  The Circle of Life Award celebrates programs across the nation that have made great strides in palliative and end-of-life care.  This is the twelfth year for the AHA (American Hospital Association) Circle of Life Award.  CHPC was recognized for its innovative program that improves the care of patients near the end of life or with life-threatening conditions. 

AHA noted CHPC for its "very-extensive care continuum and a sophisticated palliative care institute, with strong emphasis on collaboration, physician leadership and clinical research."

"I was very pleased to see our clinical program and staff get this well deserved national recognition," stated CHPC CEO Flint Besecker. "The Western New York community should be proud to have a nationally recognized center of excellence in palliative care in their own backyard."

The Center for Hospice & Palliative Care was chosen by a selection committee made up of leaders from medicine, nursing, social work, ethics and health administration.  The committee focused on innovative programs that respect patient goals and preferences, provide comprehensive care, acknowledge and address the family or caregivers' concerns and needs and build systems and mechanisms of support to continue the program for future patients and caregivers.

The 2011 awards are supported, in part, by the California HealthCare Foundation and the Archstone Foundation, based in Oakland, Calif.  Major sponsors are the American Hospital Association, the Catholic Health Association, National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization & National Hospice Foundation. The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the National Association of Social Workers are Circle of Life cosponsors. The Circle of Life Award is a program administered by the Health Research & Educational Trust.

For more information on the Circle of Life Award, visit www.aha.org/circleoflife.

 CHPC is the parent organization to eight not-for-profit corporations including Hospice Buffalo, Caring Hearts Home Care, Home Care Buffalo, Life Transitions Center, the Palliative Care Institute, Hospice Foundation, Gilda's Club WNY, and Saunders Properties. Originally founded in 1978 as Hospice Buffalo, it is one of the nation's largest hospice and palliative care programs serving more than 700 patients a day.

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About the AHA

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Close to 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 42,000 individual members come together to form the AHA.  Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.  For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.