Accomplishments

  • Partnered with the National Association of Attorneys’ General End of Life Health Care Project to frame end-of-life as a consumer protection issue (2002 to present).
  • Collaborated with the Federation of State Medical Boards to revise guidelines for the use of of controlled substances treating pain (2003 to present).
  • Developed and launched Compassion Sabbath, a program to provide clergy and religious leaders tools for addressing the spiritual needs of seriously ill people and their families (1999 to present). Featured in US News and World Report, 2000.
  • Established the Kansas City Regional Hospital Ethics Committee Consortium, the oldest functioning ethics committee coalition in the United States (1987 to present).
  • Served as a Regional Resource Center for Rallying Points, a national program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to improve end-of-life care through state and local coalitions. (2001 to 2004).
  • Developed first Institutional Review Board Consortium involving more than 40 research institutions in the Kansas City area (2002 to present).
  • Published Guidelines for Ethical Decision Making in Managed Care and distributed nationally to managed care CEOs and medical directors (1996).
  • Collaborated with the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations to promulgate patient rights and organizational ethics standards (1992 to 1993).
  • Consulted with former Missouri Senator John Danforth during development of the Patient Self-Determination Act (1990).
  • Counseled both sides in the Nancy Beth Cruzan vs. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health, the first “right to die” case to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court (1987 to 1990).
  • Created and published Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection: Ethical Guidelines for Health Care Providers, the first voluntary community standards in the United States (1987).
  • Received the Marian Gray Secundy Sankofa Award recognizing the Center’s work to improve palliative care for African Americans (2004).
  • Directed Community-State Partnerships to Improve End-of-Life Care, an $11.25 million Robert Wood Johnson National Program (1998 to 2003).
  • Hosted the first televised (PBS) And Thou Shalt Honor Town Hall Meeting in a national series focused on family caregivers (2003). 
  • Contracted with AARP to pilot Caring Conversations, a program to enhance communication between family and friends about end-of-life issues, in fifteen states (2001 to 2002).
  • Served as an advisor on Bill Moyer’s documentary series On Our Own Terms (1999-2001). Program viewed by more than 20 million – largest viewing audience in PBS history.
  • Consulted with early leadership in development of the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care (1999 to 2000).
Don