Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I) will chair a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on Wednesday, June 13 at 2 p.m. in Dirksen 562 to examine best practices and system improvements that promote continuous, coordinated, and comprehensive patient-centered care for individuals with advanced illness.

The hearing, entitled “Empowering Patients and Honoring Individual’s Choices: Lessons in Improving Care for Individuals with Advanced Illness,” will explore the current deficiencies in our health care system, and ways to improve the link between patient wishes and services provided. The hearing will highlight interdisciplinary models of care that put patients and caregivers at the center of the decision-making process. Also, it will address ways to empower patients to make treatment decisions that align with their preferences and goals.

Witnesses

Vince Mor, Ph.D, Florence Pirce Grant Professor of Community Health, Warren Albert School of Medicine, Brown University

Dr. Gail Cooney, a Stage 3 ovarian cancer survivor and the Associate Medical Director for Physician Quality and Performance Improvement at Hospice of Palm Beach County in West Palm Beach, FL

Karren Weichert, President and CEO, Midland Care Connection, Inc., Topeka, KS

Albert Gutierrez, President and CEO, Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, Mishawaka, IN