2025 AHA Circle of Life Award honorees named

Gilchrist in Baltimore and Bristol Hospice — Hawaii are winners of the AHA 2025 Circle of Life Award for their efforts in palliative and end-of-life care. The awards will be presented at the AHA Leadership Summit, taking place July 20-22 in Nashville, Tenn. 
 
“This year’s Circle of Life Award honorees have created compassionate and impactful palliative and end-of-life care programs that provide invaluable support to patients and families during their most challenging moments,” said Rick Pollack, AHA president and CEO. “These programs are finding innovative ways to provide patients and their families with greater comfort as their disease progresses.” 
 
Gilchrist offers palliative care, geriatric primary care, dementia care, hospice care and bereavement support. Staff are organized into teams based in six locations and provide many home-based services, in addition to providing care at three hospice facilities. Gilchrist is participating in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience Model pilot and the Maryland Department of Health’s coalition bringing PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) to West Baltimore City. 
 
By increasing access to palliative care, Bristol Hospice, based in Honolulu, has seen fewer hospital admissions. The hospice has worked with private insurers to show how palliative care can improve disease management and reduce emergency department and hospital utilization, as well as created multiple strategies to ensure the growing Medicaid population receives the same level of care as those with private insurance.