AHA announces New York, Florida programs as 2026 Circle of Life Award recipients 

The AHA announced July 8 that Erie County Medical Center of Buffalo, N.Y., and the Geriatrics and Extended Care Hospice and Palliative Medicine Team of Orlando VA Health Care System in Orlando, Fla., are winners of the 2026 AHA Circle of Life Award for their efforts in palliative and end-of-life care. Both winners will be recognized during the AHA Leadership Summit, taking place in Denver from July 12-14. 

“This year’s Circle of Life Award honorees remind us what compassionate care can mean for patients and families during some of life’s most difficult moments,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “Through innovative and deeply meaningful palliative and end-of-life care programs, they are bringing comfort, dignity and support to people with life-limiting illnesses — and making a lasting difference in the lives of their families and communities.” 

ECMC’s Palliative Medicine and Support Care Program, created in 2011, has grown to include a transition care unit at ECMC for individuals who do not have caregiver support at home, a medical-legal partnership offering free legal services for vulnerable patients, and the Sloan Comfort Care Home to serve individuals in need of housing while receiving hospice care. ECMC also partners with the Erie County Department of Senior Services to support patient caregivers.  

The Orlando VA Healthcare System provides veterans with access to on-site and community care. Its Care Assessment Need process uses uniform, computer-generated data analysis to identify patients at the highest risk of 90-day readmission and those at the highest risk of death within one year. The VA also uses a risk analysis index for patients undergoing assessment for procedures and surgery to evaluate mortality risk and frailty.