NEWS RELEASE
January 24, 2000

Michigan to Focus on Improving End of Life Care
Governor names Commission, announces grant for Partnership

Continuing his commitment to improving end of life care, Governor John Engler today appointed members to the Michigan Commission on End of Life Care and announced that the state will receive a $450,000 grant to fund the Michigan Partnership for the Advancement of End of Life Care.

"Improving humane and dignified treatment during life and at the end of life has long been a priority of mine," said Engler. "The Commission on End of Life Care and the Partnership will build on our efforts to provide quality care and compassion at a time when it is needed most."

The Michigan Commission on End of Life Care will work to evaluate and improve training and curricula for health care professionals and to develop resources for the public in the area of end of life care. The Commission will also examine state policies to remove barriers to effective pain management and improve access for citizens to end of life care. It will issue a final report to the Governor and the Legislature containing its findings and recommendations.

Governor Engler signed Executive Order 2000-2 to amend E.O. 1999-4, which he signed in June to create the Commission. The new executive order reduces the number of Commission members from 17 to 12 and extends the deadline for the Commission's report from September 2000 to February 1, 2001.

Dorothy Deremo, of Farmington Hills, is president and CEO of Hospice of Michigan in Southfield.

Kay Felt, of Grosse Pointe Shores, is a partner in the law firm of Dykema Gossett, and has led the firm's health care practice for more than 15 years.

Thomas George, M.D., of Kalamazoo, is an anesthesiologist for Kalamazoo Anesthesiology and medical director of Hospice of Greater Kalamazoo.

Mary Anne Gorman, of Muskegon, is executive director of Hospice of Muskegon-Oceana.

Kim Kuebler, of Clare, is the owner of and an adult nurse practitioner for Adjuvant Therapies, Inc.

Guadalupe Lara, of Allen Park, is manager of Supporting Children & Families at the Children's Hospital of Michigan and the co-founder of the Michigan Hispanic Mental Health Association.

Jeanne Lewandowski, M.D., of Grosse Pointe Park, has been medical director of pediatrics at Bon Secours Hospital since 1988.

Sister Mary Giovanni Monge, of Livonia, is the founder of Angela Hospice Home Care in Livonia and the president and CEO of Angela Health Care.

Karen Ogle, M.D., of East Lansing, currently holds five positions at MSU including three adjunct professorships, one full professorship and the directorship of Palliative Care and Research Programs. She will chair the Commission.

Reverend Clayton Thomason, of Okemos, is assistant professor of spirituality and ethics in medicine in the College of Human Medicine at MSU and the priest-in-charge at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

James Haveman, of Lansing, is the director of the Department of Community Health.

Kathy Wilbur, of Lansing, is the director of the Department of Consumer and Industry Services.

The Governor also announced that the Michigan Partnership for the Advancement of End of Life Care will receive a $450,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Partnership is a collaborative effort of the Department of Community Health, the Michigan Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and nearly 30 other organizations with a commitment to the improvement of end of life care.

"The Commission on End of Life Care and the Partnership will build on the Circle of Life initiative, which the Governor formed in 1998 to improve end of life care," said Michigan Department of Community Health Director James K. Haveman, Jr. "Our goal remains achieving the best possible quality of life for patients and their families."

The Health Professional Education Project will review current end of life education in the training at medical, nursing, social work and pharmaceutical schools and schools that teach spiritual care. It will also develop new curricula and a resource bank to improve care.
The Nursing Facilities Project will assess the educational, cultural, communications and regulatory barriers in Michigan to good end of life care and develop guidelines for care for nursing facilities.
The Community Resource Development Project will develop on-site, phone-in and Internet-based resource centers for citizens seeking end of life advice and information.

"We are honored to have been selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for one of its Community-State Partnership grants, and challenged to take this opportunity to accelerate improvements in end of life care for Michigan citizens," said Susanne Homant, Executive Director of the Michigan Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, NJ, is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grantmaking in three goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at reasonable cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse.