September 24th 6:00 PM Join us in Honoring the Journey of Hospice Patients through Gifted Wishes!
From the comfort of your own home! Grab a glass of wine, yummy snacks and virtually join us to make a difference
Link to Virtual Event given when you register The evening program includes a live auction, as well as presentation of the Edward E Rosenbaum Hospice Life Award to Dr. Yolanda Suarez, Medical Director of Signature Hospice. A silent auction will be held online in the week prior to the gala. Click the links to be a part of this amazing event.
2020 Honor The Journey Gala Sponsors
PRESENTING SPONSOR
EMERALD SPONSOR
Terry Bean
SAPPHIRE SPONSOR
Kelly Stafford
Jean Rosenbaum
RUBY LEVEL
Betty Curtis & Deb Thomas
Lark Wiesner
Bob & Rita Philip
Karen Fishel
Denise Silverman
Virginia Getz
Vertical Divider
LAPIS LEVEL
Gary Boyer, Mortgage Monkey.com RealtorGabriela.com
Michael Weiner & Kathy Davis-Weiner
Alie Lov Shelly and Troy Spanu
Edward E. Rosenbaum Award Recipient: Dr. Yolanda Suarez
Dr. Suarez’s path to medicine was along a circuitous path by way of civil engineering. She decided that boredom, evidenced by snoozing through her Environmental Engineering PhD classes, was the sign she needed to pursue her dream of studying medicine. She attended Western University of Health Sciences in California, then went on to complete a Family Medicine Residency at USC. It was at the end of her final year in residency that she discovered hospice. It was a transformative moment that led her to redesign curriculum at USC, making hospice a core rotation rather than an elective one. Later, her hospice training came from the talented nurses with whom she had the privilege of working and that exceptional education made it possible to become board certified in Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine. In 2017 she took a year off to pursue a fellowship in geriatric medicine at UNR School of Medicine in Reno, becoming board certified in Geriatric Medicine—an educationally and financially humbling experience. Being a hospice physician has spoiled it for other jobs. She was privileged to be at the bedside of a beloved patient who requested her presence while actively dying. She lay on the floor, comforting a patient whose husband had just died and grandson was missing as she herself neared death. She held a dying patient because his exhausted wife had let go. So many other stories. It has been an enriching ride. She is now pursuing a Healthcare MBA at OHSU to develop the financial expertise and accompanying voice that it will take to develop a community hospice house. As medical director of Signature Hospice, she and her leadership team are exploring ways to help people in need. She feels blessed to be on a team that shares similar visions and the determination to find creative alternatives to care for, as one team member said, “humans.” Additionally, Dr. Suarez travels and has backpacked through amazing countries. She creatives mosaic art and beads jewelry. Her daughter is her proudest accomplishment and is herself a physician