Five new members join Delaware Hospice Board of Trustees

Delaware Hospice announced the appointment of five new board of trustee members. Alan E. Atzrott; Janet Dougherty; Tom Hoyer; Kathleen S. Matt, MS, PhD; and Joan Thomas, RN, MSN, FACHE will serve two-year terms.

Alan E. Atzrott of Rehoboth Beach has over 41 years of experience in health and hospital management with 28 of those years as CEO. Atzrott has extensive experience in palliative care reimbursement, cancer center, hospice, and home health. Atzrott helped established Kaplan Hospice in Newburgh, N.Y. He holds a master of business administration degree.

Janet Dougherty of Wilmington is vice president and relationship manager at Fulton Bank NA. Dougherty has experience working with Wilmington Jaycees and is a board member of the Wilmington Housing Partnership. She has been volunteering on Delaware Hospice’s finance committee.

Tom Hoyer of Rehoboth Beach has worked primarily in policy-making positions for the agency now called the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. His experience includes the full range of Medicare and Medicaid policy areas, including health and safety, coverage and the development of several of today’s prospective payment systems. In 1982, Hoyer implemented the Medicare hospice benefit and was responsible for producing the regulations that established and governed the benefit. His interest in hospice led him to continue to manage hospice benefit policy in each of his successive positions until his 2002 retirement. Hoyer holds a master of business administration degree from Loyola College in Baltimore. The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization presented Hoyer with its Distinguished Public Service Award in 1996 as well as its Founders Award in 2004.

Dr. Kathleen S. Matt of Newark is currently the dean of the University of Delaware’s College of Health Sciences. She is also the executive director of Delaware Health Science Alliances. Matt has an extensive resume on Delaware’s various boards and councils regarding healthcare including being named commissioner of the Delaware Health Care Commission, a member of the Governor’s Council on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, and board member and treasurer of the Delaware Academy of Medicine. As a congressional fellow and being a part of the Health Education and Labor and Pensions Committee she worked closely with hospice organizations on their various initiatives.

“I believe strongly in the palliative care services that Delaware Hospice provides to individuals and the support they provide these individuals and their families throughout this stage of care,”  said Matt. “It is the care and comfort Delaware Hospice provides and the comprehensive nature of their services that makes all the differences to these individuals and their families. I want to be a part of helping to support Delaware Hospice and to help them continue to expand their impact in the community.”

Joan Thomas, RN, MSN, FACHE, of Milton works at Beebe Healthcare. Thomas is “committed to providing competent, compassionate, and respectful healthcare throughout the continuum of life.” She is affiliated with the American College of Healthcare Executives, American Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau National Nurses Honor Society and the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences Advisory Committee.

Delaware Hospice President and CEO Susan Lloyd, MSN, RN, said, “We look forward to the numerous contributions our new board members will bring to the organization. I know that Delaware Hospice will benefit from their expertise as recognized leaders in the healthcare industry.”

For more information go to www.delawarehospice.org.