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Press Release: Carol A. Luhrs, Director of Palliative Care Teams, Receives National Award
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
New York Harbor Healthcare System
800 Poly Place
Brooklyn, NY 11209
718-836-6600 x2804
Fax 718-630-2840
Contact: John R. Mazzulla |
BROOKLYN, NY, August 30, 2006 ---- Carol A. Luhrs, MD, Chief of Hematology/Oncology at the Brooklyn Campus of VA New York Harbor Healthcare System and Director of Palliative Care Teams for the VA New York/New Jersey Veterans Healthcare Network, received the Circle of Life Citation of Honor Award in June at the American Hospital Association Leadership Summit in San Francisco, CA.
The Circle of Life Citation of Honor Award, sponsored by the American Hospital Association in conjunction with the American Medical Association and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, recognizes innovative programs in the delivery of palliative and end of life care.
"The VA Palliative Care Program was awarded the Circle of Life Citation of Honor Award for leading the VA system in standardizing palliative care across multiple clinical settings and for innovatively using information technology, such as the electronic medical records," said VA New York/New Jersey Healthcare Director James J. Farsetta. "Dr. Luhrs has demonstrated outstanding clinical leadership in ensuring such important end of life care for our nation's veterans."
VA Palliative Care Teams operate in VA medical facilities in Brooklyn, Bronx, New York, St. Albans, Queens, Castle Point, Montrose, Northport, East Orange and Lyons, New Jersey.
"Our goals were to set up a VA network-wide palliative care program consisting of an interdisciplinary Palliative Care Consultation Team (PCCT) at all acute care hospitals and nursing homes to provide uniform palliative care to veterans," says Carol A. Luhrs, MD, Director of Palliative Care. "This approach emphasizes relationships both within the VA locally and nationally, and with community organizations, such as the hospices, state veteran nursing homes, and veteran groups, to provide a seamless transition of care for veterans at the end of life."
A ceremony and reception in honor of Dr. Luhrs and the VA New York/New Jersey Veterans Healthcare Network Palliative Care Teams will take place on Tuesday, September 12, 2006, at 2:00pm at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center, where an American Hospital Association representative will present the Circle of Life Citation of Honor Award to VA's Palliative Care Teams.
Read the article on the American Hospital Association web site.
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