Innovations in End-of-Life Care
an international journal of leaders in end-of-life care

The 2003 Circle of Life Award

For the past three years, Innovations has developed theme-based issues around the work of one or more winners of the annual Circle of Life Awards: Celebrating Innovation in End-of-Life Care. These awards are sponsored by the American Hospital Association in conjunction with the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, the American Medical Association, and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. See the Archives page to explore the work of past winners in depth.

This year, we are devoting an entire issue of Innovations to the three programs that have been honored by the award. Click on the name of the institution below for a summary of each of this year’s winning programs. The summaries are drawn from the materials each program submitted to the AHA as part of their application for the award.

• Hospice & Palliative CareCenter



• Providence Health System, End of Life Care Program



• University of California Davis Health System, West Coast Center for Palliative Education and Research

The award selection committee chose seven additional programs to receive Citations of Honor. These honorees are:

• Center for Hospice & Palliative Care, Buffalo, New York
• Detroit Receiving Hospital, Detroit, Michigan
• Hope Hospice and Palliative Care’s Open Access Program, Fort Myers, Florida
• Hospice of Lancaster County, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
• Mercy Health Partners-Southwest Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Renal Palliative Care Initiative of Baystate Health System, Springfield, Massachusetts
• SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri

To read more about the award, or apply for next year's award, visit the AHA page devoted to it.