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Lumina’s Dr. Helen Kao honored as American Geriatrics Society’s 2022 Clinician of the Year

CORVALLIS, OR – (May 12 ,2022) –The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is honoring Helen S. Kao, MD, as its 2022 Clinician of the Year during the AGS 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting taking place this weekend (May 12-14 in Orlando). Dr. Kao is Medical Director of Clinical Innovations at Lumina Hospice & Palliative Care, and Adjunct Professor at UCSF School of Medicine. “Our 2022 Clinician of the Year, Dr. Helen Kao, is an exceptional physician who provides exemplary care through many different care settings with a holistic, patient-centered focus,” said AGS President Peter Hollmann, MD, AGSF.

Dr. Kao, a board-certified physician in internal medicine with certificates of added qualifications in geriatrics and hospice and palliative care, has created programs to serve older adults with advanced and terminal illnesses. In her current role at Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care in Corvallis, Oregon, Dr. Kao continues to develop and provide palliative and geriatrics services by overseeing a growing palliative case management program. Previously, she directed UCSF’s house calls program and was responsible for tripling its capacity to serve older adults.

“Providing care that is equitable, ethical, and socially aware is at the heart of Dr. Kao’s clinical practice,” says Elizabeth French, Lumina’s Executive Director. “Dr. Kao demonstrates a strong belief that aging, or life-limiting illness, should not strip someone of their rights, choices, and dignity, or their ability to live as full and healthy a life as possible,” says French. “Dr. Kao continually looks for ways to make care accessible to marginalized populations, often exploring new technologies and other innovations. Her commitment has a positive influence on her team and a ripple effect throughout the community.”

Promoting diversity in geriatrics is an essential aspect of Dr. Kao’s career. As Chair of the Residential Ombudsman and Public Guardian Advisory Board (ROPGAP), she advocates for Oregonians with disabilities and helps elevate the caregiver workforce which is predominantly made up of women and BIPOC individuals. In this role, Dr. Kao helps shape the advocacy priorities of the board, which focus on protecting the rights of people with dementia, mental health conditions and intellectual or developmental disabilities.

Invited to present to scores of regional and national meetings and symposia, Dr. Kao has authored or co-authored textbooks on topics in geriatrics, and her articles have been published in leading peer-reviewed medical journals.

An AGS member since 2007, Dr. Kao received her BA cum laude from Harvard and her MD from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, where she served her residency in the Program in Residency Investigation Methods and Epidemiology (PRIME) Internal Medicine and fellowship in Geriatrics. She has been honored for professional excellence by some 20 prestigious awards—including UCSF’s Council of Master Clinicians and, most recently, the Elizabeth Wessinger Award, recognizing people who make a difference for end-of-life care in Oregon and across the nation.

Founded as Benton Hospice Service in 1980, Lumina Hospice & Palliative Care^™ is an independent, non-profit community resource providing clinically excellent responsive care for those nearing the end of life. Lumina ensures in-home comfort, compassion, and control for every patient throughout their remaining days—wherever home is.

From: C.J. Hudson, President

Regarding Leadership Change

On behalf of the board of directors of the Oregon Nonprofit Hospice Alliance I am pleased to announce that Dr. JooRi Jun, ND has accepted the position of CEO of the Oregon Nonprofit Hospice Alliance effective 4/4/2022. For the past two years JooRi has served as executive director of Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County in Port Angeles, Washington. Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County has provided interdisciplinary hospice services to residents of Clallam County for over 40 years relying solely on community support.

Her prior experience includes:

• Serving as Director of Programs for Olympic Community of Health in Port Townsend, Washington where she worked with a wide variety of medical, mental health, tribal agencies to lead a state-wide Medicaid
  transformation project.
• Serving as a rural primary health care provider in Carnation, Washington.
• Serving as a spiritual care provider at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.

We look forward to benefiting from JooRi’s leadership, experience and skill set in working across organizations to assist our current and future affiliates in achieving our mission of helping community-based, nonprofit hospices in the Pacific Northwest to be stronger together achieving more for their local communities.

Farewell to Andy Kyler

I would also like to extend congratulations to Andy Kyler, RN, MBA upon his upcoming retirement from the ONHA CEO position in April. Andy’s work as CEO of ONHA, and previously Executive Director of Care Partners Hospice, were integral to our success as an alliance. We thank him for his 42 years of service as a nurse, leadership of 4 hospice agencies in Oregon over the past 4 decades, and of course his leadership in founding the Oregon Non-Profit Hospice Alliance. We are in a stronger place because of his contributions.

About ONHA

Founded in 2018, The Oregon Nonprofit Hospice Association is operated by a board of directors composed of representatives from affiliate members. ONHA works with its affiliates to be leaders in the delivery of high quality, innovative hospice and palliative care services with broad community support. Current ONHA affiliates include Care Partners serving the Portland Metro Area, Lumina Hospice and Palliative Care Serving the mid-Willamette Valley and Klamath Hospice serving southern Oregon and northern California. 

The Oregon Non-profit Hospice Alliance (ONHA) debuted as an organization that helps to sustain and grow community-based hospice agencies in support of seriously ill Oregonians and their families in 2019.   Member agencies have been operating in their respective service areas for more than 30 years and embody the original hospice movement’s dedication to put people above profits.

Being part of ONHA means we can do even more for our communities.  Alliance members are sharing best practices and working together on innovations to support exceptional community-based hospice and palliative care. ONHA members are proud to put collaboration ahead of competition to ensure that the benefits of non-profit care are accessible to all Oregonians.

ONHA is patterned after successful nonprofit alliances in other states.  Ohio’s Hospice, one of ONHA’s models, began in 2013 with three affiliates and has since tripled in size to nine, in addition to entering into joint ventures and partnerships with other community organizations including hospitals, physician practices and health plans.

ONHA affiliates will continue to offer direct care services and raise funds for their local communities.  The alliance accepts donations to promote the benefits of non-profit hospice statewide.

ONHA’s members are collaborating in the following areas:  

• Adopting common systems (e.g. software), clinical programs and business practices
• Quality improvement
• Physician peer review
• Employee benefits, education and training
• Achieving operating efficiencies and leveraging economies of scale
• Fostering innovation in the provision of palliative and serious illness care

It’s simple: our affiliates provide more care for every dollar spent.  We don’t have profit targets set by a financial executive in another state.  Our boards come from the communities we serve and give our agencies the latitude to do what’s best to support people through coping with serious illnesses, loss and grief. 

About ONHA:  ONHA is a registered Oregon nonprofit, representing nonprofit hospices state-wide who are collaborating to achieve mutually-assured success. ONHA’s CEO works with a board of directors composed of each affiliate’s Executive Director and one board member, to ensure equal representation among members.

Media Contact: Andy Kyler, andy.kyler@onhanetwork.org  503-207-3565