31st Annual

Kenneth B. Schwartz
Compassionate Healthcare Dinner

Local Roots. Global Reach.

Tuesday, October 27, 2026 • The Westin Boston Seaport
425 Summer Street, Boston, MA

2026 Compassionate Healthcare Dinner invitation artwork

Welcome

Thank you for joining us!

Join us for an evening that honors the caregivers, advocates, and innovators who keep compassion at the heart of healthcare. Your support sustains resources that help care teams show up for patients when it matters most.

Dear Friends,

We are honored to welcome you to our 31st Annual Kenneth B. Schwartz Compassionate Healthcare Dinner. This year marks three decades of advancing a fundamental truth: healing requires both rigorous science and the deeply human connection of compassionate care. Your presence reflects our shared belief that everyone deserves this integration of science and humanity in healthcare. Tonight we celebrate the recipients of our National Compassionate Caregivers of the Year®Award and welcome our keynote speaker, Stephen Trzeciak, MD, MPH, recipient of our inaugural Compassion Champion Award. These honorees demonstrate what’s possible when clinical excellence meets genuine human connection, allowing caregivers to lead with both their minds and hearts. Your generosity directly advances our mission by supporting vital resources like our Schwartz Rounds® and Stress First Aid programs, as well as by underwriting research, education, and training initiatives that allow healthcare teams to expand their capacity for compassionate care delivery. This year, funds raised will expand our services into new parts of the healthcare continuum, both here in the U.S and abroad. Our goal is to expand our reach to hundreds of thousands of clinicians and patients who deserve healing relationships at the center of their care. As Ken Schwartz wrote, “Each one of us wants not simply the best possible care for our body but for our whole being.” This insight has never been more vital than today. We’re grateful for champions like you standing beside us as we work to keep compassion at the heart of healthcare for generations to come.

Thank you for your steadfast partnership in this vital mission.

Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA

Jean-Paul A. Rebillard

Ellen R. Cohen

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Support the Schwartz Center

Your generosity helps sustain vital programs that strengthen the well-being of healthcare professionals — so they can be there for their patients when it matters most.

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An Evening Together

2026 Dinner Program

WELCOME PERFORMANCE

BOSTON CHILDREN'S CHORUS

OVERVIEW OF TONIGHT'S PROGRAM

ANDY SAKS
Emcee

THE PATIENT I'LL NEVER FORGET

2026 SCCA AWARD RECIPIENTS

Malathi Balasundaram, MD

Neonatal Intensivist, El Camino Health Clinical Professor, Stanford School of Medicine Founder and Executive Director, Family-Centered Care Taskforce Palo Alto, California

Gerard Duffy

Community Nurse for the Homeless Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Belfast, Northern Ireland

Tyler Jorgensen, MD

Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine Assistant Program Director, Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas

CELEBRATING THE NCCY RECIPIENTS

LUKE SATO, MD
Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, CRICO

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS

ELLEN R. COHEN, MSW
Schwartz Center Founder

THE IMPACT OF THE SCHWARTZ ROUNDS PROGRAM

MARSHALL MEDICAL CENTER

SUPPORTING THE SCHWARTZ CENTER

JEAN-PAUL A. REBILLARD
Schwartz Center Board Chair; President, MedPro Specialty, MedPro Group

PRESENTATION OF THE SCHWARTZ COMPASSION CHAMPION AWARD

MICHAEL GUSTAFSON, MD, MBA
CEO, The Schwartz Center

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF COMPASSION

STEPHEN TRZECIAK, MD, MPH
Co-Author, “Compassionomics”

CLOSING AND DESSERT RECEPTION

ANDY SAKS
Emcee

Generous Contributions

Leadership & Donor List

We gratefully acknowledge the extraordinary commitment of our sponsors and donors.

View Donor List View Leadership

Program Coordination

Event Committee

ROBYN BEGLEY, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN Former, Chief Executive Officer, AONL; Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, AHA

JOSHUA BOGER, PHD

ELLEN R. COHEN, MSW Founder, Schwartz Center Board

WENDY K. COHEN, LICSW

ETHAN CRAIN Co-Lead, U.S. Healthcare Practice, Lockton

WILLIAM T. CURRY, JR., MD Chief Medical Officer, Academic Medical Center, Mass General Brigham

JAMES C. DE VELLIS Partner, Foley & Lardner, LLP

MISHELE AND ROBERT FIELDS, MD Executive Vice President & Chief Clinical Officer, Beth Israel Lahey Health

MATTHEW FISHMAN

MELISSA A. FITZPATRICK, MSN, RN, FAAN President, Kirby Bates Associates

GRAHAM GARDNER, MD, MBA Founder and Former Chief Executive Officer, Kyruus Health

MATT GERMAK MD, MPH Vice President of Patient Safety, CRICO

ELIZABETH L.B. GREENE Partner, Mirick

BRENT L. HENRY Member, Mintz

ED KEOHANE Founder and CEO, Babywell MD

MICHELE KLAU, RNCS The Danielsen Institute at Boston University

SARAH LUKAS Former Partner, Edelstein & Co., LLP

SHARON MCNALLY CEO, Camp Harbor View Foundation

ANN MUSCHETT AND MICHAEL L. BLAU Former Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP

REENA L. PANDE, MD Partner, Oxeon

PARESH PUROHIT Vice President, Marsh MMA

SCOTT QUINT AND MICHAEL GUSTAFSON, MD, MBA CEO, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare

JEAN-PAUL A. REBILLARD Executive Vice President, MedPro Group

JAY SHILAND Partner, MTS Health Partners LP

COLETTE AND DAN STANZLER Partner/Portfolio Manager

MARJORIE AND PAUL STANZLER

ELIZABETH VERNAGLIA, PHD, AND LAWRENCE VERNAGLIA Partner, Foley and Lardner LLP

Keynote Speaker

Maureen Bisognano

Recipient, Schwartz Compassion Champion Award

President Emerita and Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)

National Recognition

Voices of compassion

Since 1999, the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare has honored extraordinary healthcare professionals from across the country who embody the characteristics of compassionate care and whose professional achievements have helped to create healing healthcare environments for patients, families, colleagues, and communities.

The Schwartz Center is grateful to CRICO for its generous support of the National Compassionate Caregivers of the Year Award. For close to 50 years, CRICO has provided industry-leading medical professional liability coverage, claims management, and patient safety resources to all of the Harvard medical institutions and their affiliates, and is a recognized leader in evidence-based risk management.

Malathi Balasundaram, MD

Neonatal Intensivist, El Camino Health Clinical Professor, Stanford School of Medicine Founder and Executive Director, Family-Centered Care Taskforce Palo Alto, California

Gerard Duffy

Community Nurse for the Homeless Belfast Health and Social Care Trust Belfast, Northern Ireland

Tyler Jorgensen, MD

Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine Assistant Program Director, Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas

The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare

What We Do

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.

SUPPORT THE SCHWARTZ CENTER

Kenneth B. Schwartz

History

Recipient, Schwartz Compassion Champion Award

The Schwartz Center reflects the vision of Ken Schwartz, a Boston healthcare attorney who died of lung cancer at age 40 and found that what mattered to him most was the human connection he felt with his caregivers, which he said made “the unbearable bearable.” He established the Schwartz Center in 1995 – just days before his death – to ensure that all patients and families are treated with compassion.

Remembering Our Friends

In Memoriam

Betsy & Stephen Corman

Betsy and Stephen Corman were cherished friends of the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare. Together with his late wife Betsy, Steve made a lasting contribution by naming the Schwartz Center in his will. Steve and Betsy’s extraordinary commitment to advancing compassionate healthcare led to the creation of the Corman IMPACT Honors, a program that has recognized and elevated programs that promote innovative, compassionate care.

Philip W. Johnston

Phil Johnston was a founding member of the Schwartz Center’s Board of Directors, and a longtime member of the Leadership Council. Phil served as Massachusetts Secretary of Health and Human Services, chairman of the state Democratic Party, and established his own consulting firm, Philip W. Johnston Associates. He was a lifelong advocate for social justice, human rights, and healthcare access.

Sandra Levine

Sandra Levine was the aunt of Schwartz Center founder Ken Schwartz, and a supporter of the Schwartz Center since our inception. Sandra was a former teacher, volunteer and an ardent philanthropist, who supported causes ranging from healthcare and higher education to the arts and history.

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Extended Gratitude

Special Thanks

The Schwartz Center is grateful to everyone who helped make this 30th Annual Dinner a success by contributing time and in-kind support.