Nominations Sought for Compassionate Caregiver Award

BOSTON — The Kenneth B. Schwartz Center is soliciting nominations for its ninth annual Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award. This award honors Massachusetts caregivers who display extraordinary compassion in caring for patients. The winner will receive $5,000, and four finalists will receive $1,000 each.

The award honors Kenneth B. Schwartz, the center’s founder and a health care attorney who died in 1995 after battling lung cancer. Nominations are due April 16. Any paid, employed caregiver or team of caregivers with direct contact with patients, in any Massachusetts health care setting, is eligible.

The Schwartz Center encourages the nomination of candidates from diverse institutions, including long-term care facilities, community health centers, outpatient clinics, hospices, visiting nurse associations, and hospitals. It also encourages nominations that represent the broad racial and ethnic diversity of Massachusetts caregivers.

Anyone can submit nominations, both health care professionals and members of the public. Nomination forms can be obtained in a number ways: by mail at 101 Merrimac St., Suite 603, Boston, MA 02114-2792; by phone at (617) 726-0512; by fax at (617) 726-2224; and online at www.theschwartzcenter.org.

The Schwartz Center will present the award at its annual dinner on Nov. 1 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston.

The mission of the non-profit Kenneth B. Schwartz Center is to advance compassionate health care and strengthen the relationship between patients and caregivers. The center creates and supports innovative education, training, and support programs, as well as public education forums.