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About Us

Who Are We?

The Coalition for Compassionate Care of California is a statewide partnership of regional and statewide organizations and individuals dedicated to the advancement of palliative medicine and end-of-life care in California.

Mission Statement

To promote high-quality, compassionate end-of-life care for all Californians.

Staff

Judy Citko, J.D.
Executive Director
916-993-7740
Judy has nearly 20 years of experience in healthcare. Before joining the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, she worked as a lobbyist, lawyer, and computer programmer for hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and managed care providers.
Ellen Hickey
Program Director
916-993-7739
Before joining the Coalition for Compassionate Care, Ellen was Community Liaison for Hospice of Amador and Calaveras. She previously served as Director of Research and Communications for an international non-profit working to promote sustainable agriculture and holds a masters degree in city and regional planning.
Christina Johnson
Education Manager
916-993-7738
Christina brings over 12 years experience in communications and public relations to the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California. Prior to joining CCCC, she was Program Specialist for the California Telemedicine and eHealth Center. She previously served as Public Information Specialist for the Association of Regional Center Agencies and Media Director for the California State Fair.
Lani Maxera
POLST Program Director
916-993-7741
Lani holds a master of Public Health from UC Berkeley, where she focused on aging and palliative care. She has interned for Kaiser Oakland Medical Center's palliative care department and also for the Palliative Care Initiative at Kaiser's Care Management Institute. Lani previously worked at two different needle exchange and homeless drop-in centers in San Francisco as a health educator and HIV test counselor.
 
Meg McClaskey
Program Director
916-993-7772
Meg brings nearly 24 years as a medical ethicist and as a board certified chaplain, as a consultant and in clinical settings, with a special interest in giving voice to the rights and dignity of the differently served (the developmentally disabled, disabled, the aging and mentally ill). She has spent the last 20 years in Illinois working on advocacy, legislation, and document development and education related to advance directives, statewide DNR forms and POLST.
Suzanne Richards
Office Manager
916-993-7737
Suzanne has over 10 years of administrative work in children’s mental health and civil engineering. Before joining the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, she worked as a Trainer and Business Services Coordinator at FamiliesFirst, Inc. in Sacramento.
Chuck Wenson
Encore Fellow
916-993-7709
Chuck's first assignment as an Encore Fellow is development of the POLST registry automation project. Prior to joining the Coalition for Compassionate Care, he worked in various fields of information technology with the last five years in the data center facility management area at Intel.
 

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CCCC at Work

Implementation of Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment in Nursing Homes in California: Evaluation of a Novel Statewide Dissemination Mechanism [PDF]
Neil Wenger, MD, MPH, Judy Citko, JD, Kate O'Malley, RN, MS, Allison Diamant, MD, MSHS, Karl Lorenz, MD, MSHS, Victor Gonzalez, BS, and Derjung Tarn, MD, PhD
Journal of General Internal Medicine, published online August 12, 2012
POLST Offers Next Stage in Honoring Patient Preferences [PDF]
Diane E. Meier, M.D. and Larry Beresford
Journal of Palliative Medicine, Volume 12, Number 4, 2009
Improving End-of-Life Care Through Community-Based Grassroots Collaboration: Development of the Chinese-American coalition for Compassionate Care (CACCC) [PDF]
Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou, et al
Journal of Palliative Care, 24:1, 2008
Evaluating the California Hospital Initiative in Palliative Services (CHIPS) [PDF]
Steven Z. Pantilat, MD, et al.
Archives of Internal Medicine, January 24, 2006
The Community State Partnership to Improve End-of-Life Care—California [PDF]
Improving End-of-Life Care in Nursing Facilities
Terry E. Hill, MD, Marjorie Ginsburg, MPH, Judy Citko, JD, and Mary Cadogan DrPH, RN, CGNP
Journal of Palliative Medicine, Volume 8, Number 2, 2005
Improving End-of-Life Care: California Nursing Home Projects Target Communication, Patient Preference [PDF]
Larry Beresford
Future Age, September/October 2005

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Funding

The Coalition for Compassionate Care of California is funded through grants, donations, and in-kind support. We appreciate the support of the following organizations in 2012:

Past funders include:

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E-Newsletter Archives


CCCC Updates

2013 Board of Directors

Judy Citko, JD
Executive Director
Coalition for Compassionate Care of California
Lori Dangberg
Vice President
Alliance of Catholic Health Care
Michael J. Demoratz, PhD, LCSW, CCM
Palliative Care Administrator
California Palliative Medicine Associates
in partnership with VITAS Palliative Care Solutions
Jan Guiliano
Director of Education and Events Management
Aging Services of California
Nate Hinerman, PhD
Dept. of Nursing, Theology and Religious Studies
University of San Francisco
Chair, San Francisco End of Life Network
Brother Felipe Martinez
Staff Chaplain
Marian Medical Center, Santa Maria, CA
Mel Matsumoto
Executive Director
Channing House
James McGregor, MD
Medical Director
Sutter Care at Home, Roseville & Sacramento, CA
Helen McNeal
Executive Director
CSU Institute for Palliative Care
Robert Moore, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Officer
Partnership Healthplan of California
Wells Shoemaker, MD
Medical Director
California Association of Physician Groups
Karl Steinberg, MD
 Associate Medical Director
Scripps Coastal Medical Center
Carol Wanke
 Vice President, Managed Care Operations
Sharp HealthCare
Patty Watson-Wood, RN, BSN
Senior Health and Caregiver Support Coordinator
Huntington Hospital
Co-Chair, San Gabriel Valley End-of-Life Coalition