Prof. Gary Stein

At the recent , held in person from Sunday, April 24, through Tuesday, April 26, 2022,  Prof. Gary Stein, professor and director of the Gerontology & Palliative Care program at Wurzweiler School of Social Work, received a co-founders’ Leadership Award, along with Dr. Grace Christ, Professor Emeritus of the Columbia University School of Social Work, for the work they did to establish and lead SWHPN, beginning in 2003 with the first Social Work Summit on End-of-Life and Palliative Care, an official launch in 2007 and the first General Assembly in 2013.  Prof. Stein was Founding Vice Chair of the organization from 2007-2020. It is now a vibrant organization with over 1,100 members ranging from students in MSW programs to retired practitioners, from clinicians in rural hospice programs to academics at major universities in the United States, Canada and beyond. SWHPN also fills a gap in the current health care landscape by addressing the needs of social workers in end-of-life and supportive illness care.  The organization advocates for social workers as vital members of the interprofessional hospice and palliative care team. The award said, “With deep gratitude for their countless hours of work to help SWHPN succeed, we honor their many contributions to the organization, and to the field of hospice and palliative care social work.”