Advance Care Planning: What Are the Available Options?
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
The Desmond Hotel
660 Albany Shaker Road
Albany, New York
PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES
Patricia Bomba, MD, FACP
Patricia Bomba, MD, FACP, is a nationally-recognized palliative care and end-of-life expert who designs and oversees the implementation of community projects. Dr. Bomba currently serves as the Vice President and Medical Director, Geriatrics for Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. She served on the Institute of Medicine’s Committee that produced Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life. She chairs the MOLST Statewide Implementation Team and the National Healthcare Decisions Day New York State Coalition, serves as eMOLST Program Director, and is a member of the Medical Society of the State of New York Ethics Committee. She is New York State’s representative on the National POLST Paradigm Task Force and chairs the POLST Communications Committee. In addition to serving as a New York State Delegate to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, she served as a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine Primary Palliative Care Committee and the Review Committee of the National Quality Forum’s “Framework and Preferred Practices for a Palliative and Hospice Care Quality” project.
Dr. Bomba is passionately focused on educating the medical community, and the public at large, with a goal of improving the quality of life for seniors and their families. Dr. Bomba attended Immaculata College, the University ofVirginia School of Medicine, and completed her residency training in internal medicine at the University of Rochester. She is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Geriatrics and spent most of her career in private practice caring for frail elders and their families and caregivers. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester and the State University of New York Upstate Medical University.
George Giokas, MD
George J. Giokas received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University and medical degree from George Washington University’s School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Albany Medical Center. Dr. Giokas is board certified in internal medicine and hospice and palliative medicine. After practicing primary care internal medicine for over 25 years, he joined The Community Hospice in 2009 as Director of Palliative Care overseeing the development of inpatient and outpatient palliative care programs. Dr. Giokas served as Chief of the Section of General Internal Medicine of Ellis Hospital, continues to serve on its Ethics Committee, and leads the inpatient palliative care consultation service at Ellis Hospital. DrGiokas is a member of the state-wide MOLST implementation team.
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PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES, continued
Bruce White, DO, JD
Bruce D. White, DO, JD,is a board-certified pediatrician, a pharmacist, and an attorney with fellowship training in clinical medical ethics.Since January 2010, he has served as Director of the Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College. Dr. White is a professor of pediatrics and holds the John A. Balint, MD, Chair of Medical Ethics in the College.
Preceding his appointment at Albany Medical College, he served as chair of the pediatrics department and directed the clinical ethics fellowship program at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, where he held faculty appointments as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Science in the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy, and Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska. From 1999-2013, he served as professor and director of the Healthcare Ethics and Law (HEaL) Institute at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.
Dr. White holds pharmacy and law degrees from the University of Tennessee and a doctor of osteopathic medicine from North Texas State University. He completed a pediatrics residency at Kosair Children's Hospital, the pediatric teaching hospital of the University of Louisville. He completed a fellowship in clinical medical ethics at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He received his Master of Science in Bioethics from Albany Medical College.
Benita Zahn, DPS
Benita Zahn, DPS, co-anchors NewsChannel 13 Live at 5 and 6 news programs. She is also the health reporter, covering issues including wellness, treatment breakthroughs, aging, nutrition, and the latest health care trends. In addition, Dr. Zahn co-produces and hosts "Health LINK," which airs Thursday nights on WMHT, and writes a weekly column for the ’Live Smart’ page of the Times Union.
Dr. Zahn's work has garnered her numerous awards, including the Arthur Kapner Spirit of the Chamber Award (Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber), named one of the 100 Women of the Century (Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber), four-time Emmy nominee, NYS Broadcasters award recipient, Gold Medal and Bronze Medal—New York Festival's International Television, Distinguished Communicator Award/ American Women in Radio and Television, Women Against MS honoree, the NYS Health Education Week Award, and media awards from the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association.
Dr. Zahn has also covered numerous national political conventions, the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the terrorist attack on 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Unabomber trial. She is Honorary Chair for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Run and is also on the boards of Kelly's Cause, Building on Love, which supports Ronald McDonald House, and Park Playhouse. Dr. Zahn is an avid runner and active in local theater. Her theater credits include performances at Capital Rep, Fort Salem Theater, Park Playhouse, Albany Civic Theater, Schenectady Civic Theater, and Schenectady Light Opera.
Dr. Zahn earned her Doctorate in Professional Studies/Bioethics in 2014 from Albany Medical College/Alden March Bioethics Institute where she also earned a Masters in Bioethics.
The forum is sponsored by Albany Guardian Society
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