NUHEALTH TO HOST SECOND ANNUAL ETHICS CONFERENCE AT NUMC ON APRIL 26, 2013 FOCUSING ON END OF LIFE ISSUES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2013

PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055

NUHEALTH TO HOST SECOND ANNUAL ETHICS CONFERENCE AT NUMC ON APRIL 26, 2013, FOCUSING ON END OF LIFE ISSUES

East Meadow, NY….Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the NuHealth System, announces that a Second Annual Ethics Conference will be held at the Nassau University Medical Center on April 26, 2013, from 8:30 AM until noon, in the hospital’s amphitheater. Entitled “Starting the Conversation”, the conference will bring together various health care professionals, legal and religious leaders who will discuss end of life issues, specifically dealing with starting the conversation of introducing end of life issues to patients and families.

Last year’s conference, also coordinated under the leadership of Lyn Weiss, MD, chair of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at NUMC, was oversubscribed, with standing room only by many of Long Island’s health care professionals interested in the topic of palliative care and end of life issues.

“We are hoping to encourage participants to feel comfortable speaking about end of life issues with their patients as well as their families. Dr. Bomba, a leader and expert in the Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) form, is our keynote speaker. In addition to other prestigious speakers, we will have a panel of religious leaders to assist our clinicians in better understanding and respecting their patients’ needs. We will also host a workshop with medical students, law students and residents to practice having “the conversation”. Our goal is to provide better care for our patients, ensuring that their wishes on end of life care are discussed and respected,” stated Dr. Weiss.

Health care professionals will discuss how to initiate the talk about end of life care, the key role of the MOLST program. How different religions approach end of life issues, making sure that providers understand what patients’ needs are, will be the topic for religious leaders of the Muslim, Protestant, Jehovah’s Witness, Jewish and Catholic faiths. From a legal perspective, bioethics projects will be discussed by a legal team, while the social work perspective will be handled by social work hospital officials. A panel discussion will be facilitated to allow for questions from the audience.

Registration is not required and there is no fee for those attending the conference. NUMC is located at 2201 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow, NY. Please enter by Carman Avenue entrance for the Amphitheater and call 516-572-6525 if you have any questions.

ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life.  Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community.  By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.

For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.