Award-Winning Author Atul Gawande to Present the Inaugural 2015 Schwartz Center National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award

BOSTON, April 13, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, the only national nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the human connection at the heart of healthcare, announced that award-winning author Atul Gawande will present the inaugural Schwartz Center National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year (NCCY) Award at the 20^th Annual Kenneth B. Schwartz Compassionate Healthcare Dinner on Nov. 18, 2015, in Boston.

Dr. Gawande is the Executive Director of Ariadne Labs, a joint center at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. He is the author of four best-selling books (Complications, Better, The Checklist Manifesto and Being Mortal).

"Atul Gawande's work has illuminated the difficult choices caregivers, patients and families face every day and the system issues that can impede the delivery of high quality, cost-effective and compassionate healthcare," said Schwartz Center Executive Director Julie Rosen. "We're so honored that Dr. Gawande will join us at our annual dinner to help raise awareness of the importance of compassion in healthcare by celebrating caregivers and helping them feel supported and valued for the amazing work they do."

The Schwartz Center is still accepting nominations for the 2015 NCCY Award until May 1, 2015. The award is a national recognition program that elevates excellence in compassionate healthcare. Every year since 1999, the Schwartz Center has honored outstanding healthcare providers who display extraordinary devotion and compassion in caring for patients and families. This year's expansion of the award marks the award's 16^th year, its first year as a national distinction, and coincides with the Schwartz Center's 20^th anniversary.

Individual healthcare providers and teams that work in any U.S. healthcare setting and have direct patient contact are eligible. Nominees may include physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers, psychologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nursing assistants, home health aides, and chaplains – as well as interdisciplinary teams of caregivers. Nominations may be submitted by patients, family members or colleagues who work with the nominee.

The NCCY Award recipient and five finalists will be chosen by a national review committee and honored before an audience of 2,000 patients, caregivers and healthcare executives at the 20^th Annual Kenneth B. Schwartz Compassionate Healthcare Dinner on Nov. 18 in Boston. The recipient will be presented with a $5,000 award and the five finalists will receive $1,000 each.

"Receiving this award was humbling," said 2014 award recipient Thea James, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Boston Medical Center. "I felt it was an honor shared with patients who are my teachers, and with colleagues whose partnership makes our work possible. It affirmed that rewarding feeling you have when you see hope and relief in a patient's eyes—it's priceless."

More information about the award and nomination process is available at: theschwartzcenter.org/award.

About the NCCY Award
The NCCY Award is a national recognition program that elevates excellence in compassionate healthcare. Every year since 1999, the Schwartz Center has honored caregivers who embody the characteristics of compassionate care, which include effective communication, emotional support, mutual trust and respect, the involvement of families in healthcare decisions, and treating patients as people, not just illnesses. Visit theschwartzcenter.org/award for award details and to nominate a caregiver.

About the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare
The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare is the only national nonprofit dedicated to nurturing patient-caregiver relationships to strengthen the human connection at the heart of healthcare. Research shows that when caregivers are compassionate, patients do better and caregivers rediscover their passion for healing. The Center believes that a strong patient-caregiver relationship characterized by effective communication, emotional support, mutual trust and respect, and the involvement of families in healthcare decisions is fundamental to high-quality healthcare. Visit us at theschwartzcenter.org or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. 

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SOURCE The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare