Compassion makes healthcare better - one connection at a time.

At the Schwartz Center, we know that compassion has the power to save lives. Compassionate healthcare isn’t just an ideal—it’s essential for patients, families, and their care teams to thrive.

The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare

Our programs increase compassion in healthcare and create more meaningful connections between patients and healthcare professionals. We work with nearly 800 healthcare partners in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to advance compassion for patients, care teams, and their healing relationships.

Healthcare organizations face unprecedented challenges: staffing shortages, widespread provider burnout, mounting financial pressures, and deepening health disparities. We deliver evidence-based solutions that restore purpose to healthcare work, reduce burnout, and ensure that compassion remains at the heart of healing.

Our Mission

is to partner with healthcare organizations to advance compassion for patients, care teams, and their healing relationships.

Our Vision

is to be a global leader in championing compassion for all who seek and provide healthcare.

Our Work

Patients and healthcare workers alike believe that compassion is essential to successful medical treatment, how well patients recover from illness, and even whether a patient lives or dies. With the difficulties facing healthcare, compassion matters now more than ever.

We cultivate compassion in healthcare for patients, families, teams and organizations by:

Increasing the Reach and Impact of the Schwartz Rounds® Program:

Increasing the Reach and Impact of the Schwartz Rounds® Program:

The Schwartz Rounds program gives healthcare workers dedicated time and space to discuss the emotional challenges of their jobs, which has been proven to increase their capacity for compassion and ability to provide better care for patients.

Strengthening our Community of Compassion Champions:

Strengthening our Community of Compassion Champions:

We offer educational, networking, and recognition opportunities to our network of healthcare professionals, organizational leaders, patients and families, donors, and other stakeholders who believe in the transformative power of compassion.

Advancing the Power of Compassion to Transform Organizations:

Advancing the Power of Compassion to Transform Organizations:

Using our Schwartz Compassionate Healthcare Model as a guide, we help healthcare organizations and their leaders to advance a culture of compassion.

Read more about our vision for the future

These acts of kindness – the simple human touch from my caregivers – have made the unbearable bearable

KEN SCHWARTZ, Founder

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Our History

Ken's Story

In November of 1994, Ken Schwartz was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. During his ordeal, Ken came to realize that what matters most during an illness is the human connection between patients and their caregivers. He wrote about his experience in an article for the Boston Globe Magazine titled “A Patient’s Story.” In it, he writes about how “the smallest acts of kindness” make “the unbearable bearable.” His commentary has become a touchstone for the Center and readers around the world.

At the end of his life, Ken outlined an organization that would nurture compassion in healthcare, encouraging the sort of caregiver-patient relationships that made all the difference to him. He founded the Schwartz Center in 1995 – just days before his death – to ensure that all patients receive compassionate care, and all caregivers are supported in providing it.

Download Ken's Story

Our Supporters

Donors power our mission to bring compassion to healthcare nationwide. Your contributions — whether through annual giving, corporate partnerships, or foundation grants — directly fund the programs that transform how healthcare workers care for patients and each other. From helping the Schwartz Rounds® program reach new organizations to building resources to support caregiver well-being, every gift advances compassionate care where it’s needed most.

Support Our Work View Our Annual Report

During Fiscal Year 2025, 71% of all spending was directed to mission-specific programming.* Fundraising and administrative costs represent the remainder. Strategic program investments for Fiscal Year 2025 resulted in a planned loss from operations of $700k.

*Industry benchmarks suggest that at least 70% of funds raised directly support mission-focused programs.

Our Leadership

We are fortunate to have an experienced, skilled and diverse leadership committed to the work of the Schwartz Center and ensuring the compassionate experience in healthcare.

Ellen R. Cohen, MSW

Founder

Jean-Paul A. Rebillard

Chair

President, MedPro Specialty, MedPro Group

Robyn Begley, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

Vice Chair

Former, Chief Executive Officer, AONL
Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, AHA

Ethan Crain

Treasurer

Executive Vice President, National Healthcare Practice Leader, Lockton

Michael L. Blau

Former Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP

William T. Curry Jr., MD

Chief Medical Officer, Academic Medical Centers, Mass General Brigham

Melissa A. Fitzpatrick, MSN, RN, FAAN

President, Kirby Bates Associates

Graham Gardner, MD, MBA

Founder and Former Chief Executive Officer, Kyruus Health

Ann-Ellen Hornidge, Esq.

Board Chair, Beth Israel Lahey Health System

Sharon McNally

Chief Executive Officer, Camp Harbor View Foundation

Reena L. Pande, MD

Oxeon

Angela Patterson, DNP, FNP-BC, NEA-BC, FAANP

Enterprise Chief Nursing Officer, VP and Chief Nurse Practitioner Officer, Retail Health

Sandhya Rao, MD

Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Health and Medical Management, Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts

Mark E. Reynolds

Chief Executive Officer, CRICO

Jay Shiland

Partner, MTS Health Partners LP

Charlotte Yeh, MD, FACEP

Founder, Yeh Innovation, LLC
Former Chief Medical Officer, AARP Services, Inc.

Kate Stewart

Legal Counsel

Betsy Pingree Frawley

Chair

Tony Starr

Chair

Member, Mintz

Charlie D. Baker

President, National Collegiate Athletic Association

Mimi Bartholomay, RN, MSN

Peter A. Biagetti

Member, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Giovsky and Popeo

M. Lynn Buttolph, MD, PhD

Physician, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital

Howard Cohen

Chairman of the Board, Beacon Communities

Robert K. Coughlin

Managing Director, Life Sciences, JLL

Richard Doherty

Former President, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts

Andrew Dreyfus

Chief Executive Officer, National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation

Rushika Fernandopulle, MD, MPP

Former Chief Innovation Officer, OneMedical

Kerry A. Flynn

Former Vice President, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel, Vertex

Beth Lown, MD

Chief Medical Officer, Emeritus, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare

Thomas J. Lynch Jr., MD

President and Director, Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Joyce A. Murphy

2019 Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow, Harvard University

Britain Nicholson, MD

Former, Senior Vice President for Development, Massachusetts General Hospital

James Roosevelt, Jr.

Counsel, Verrill & Dana

Eric Schultz

Eric Schwartz, MD

Marjorie Stanzler

Rev. Judith Swahnberg

Kate Walsh

Former Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services

Stephen Weiner

Member Emeritus, Mintz

Lynn Wiatrowski

Former Managing Director, Bank of America

Daniel Wofford

Senior Consultant, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania

Marilyn Yager

Senior Policy Advisor, Alston & Bird, LLP

Candace Young

Owner and Founder, From The Ground Up

Michael L. Blau

Chair

Former Partner, Foley and Lardner

Pamela Mann, MSSA

Vice-Chair

Interfaith Chaplain, In-Patient Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Wendy K. Cohen, LICSW

Former Social Worker, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Jon DuBois, MD

Oncologist, The Anderson Family Cancer Institute, Jupiter Medical Center

Matthew Fishman

Matthew Germak, MD, MPH

Vice President of Patient Safety, CRICO

Brent Henry

Member, Mintz

Michael Goldberg, MD

Scholar in Residence, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare

Edward J. Keohane

Founder and CEO, Babywell MD

Samantha Kingsbury

Of Counsel, Mintz

Michele R. Klau, RNCS

Psychopharmacologist and Psychotherapist, The Danielsen Institute at Boston University

Sarah Lukas

Former Partner, Edelstein & Co., LLP

Jo Frances Meyer

Director, Puddingstone Consulting

Paresh Purohit

Vice President, Marsh McLennan Agency

Jan Rose

Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, McDermott, Quilty & Miller LLP

Beth Sampath

Vice President, Quality Assurance, Benchmark Senior Living

Daniel Stanzler

Portfolio Manager, Beaumont Financial Partners

Tamar Thompson

Head, Global Corporate Affairs, Alexion Pharmaceuticals

Larry Vernaglia

Partner, Foley and Lardner LLP

Peter Zane

Former President, Kryptonite Corporation

Patricia Arias

Program Manager, Trauma-Informed Care, University Hospital (UH)

Ruth Bash

Senior Vice President & Chief Experience Officer, Inspira Health

Bernice Burkharth

Chief Medical Officer, Care at Home, Tufts Medicine

Kimberly Dever

Vice President of Women’s Health and Chief, OB/GYN, South Shore Health

Mila Felder

Vice President, Well-being, Advocate Health

Paula Goodman-Crews

Medical Bioethics Director, Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medical Center

Shamai Larsen

Employee Wellbeing Manager, Legacy Health

Farida Malik

East Sussex Healthcare, NHS Trust

Sophia Maurasse

Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, McLean Hospital

Jeff Meyer

Lead Chaplain – Schwartz Rounds Committee Chairperson, Spectrum Health Medical Center

Sofia Newton

Wellness Manager, Highland Hospital

Jennifer Polakowski

Assistant Director/Co-Lead, NJ Nursing Emotional Well-being Institute (NJ-New); NJ Action Coalition (NJAC)

Tracy Receveur

Senior Consultant, Alberta Health Services

Heather Schmidt

System Medical Director Healthy Work & Well-being, SSM Health

Sarah Sebton

Director, Trauma-Informed Care, University Hospital (UH)

Beba Tata-Mbeng

Manager of Spiritual Care, Mayo Clinic Florida

Alex (Nathan) Thurman

Risk Management Assistant, Bluegrass Care Navigators

Ashley Yeats

Vice President Medical Operations, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts – Health & Medical Management

Our Team

Career Opportunities

Our Strategic Partners

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