Drs. Wellman, Connors Honored By Crain's

Two Hospice of the Western Reserve affiliated doctors were honored by  Crain’s Cleveland Business  as "Health Care Heroes." Dr. Charles Wellman and Dr. Alfred F. Connors Jr. were acknowledged at a special event on March 15. The Health Care Heroes were announced in the Feb. 29 edition of Crain's Cleveland Business.  

Dr. Charles Wellman
Dr. Charles Wellman, Chief Medical Officer – Hospice, was named a 2016 Crain’s Cleveland Business Health Care Heroes Award winner in the Physician category. Dr. Wellman was honored for his extraordinary commitment to patients and families, expert medical management and special communication skills when discussing sensitive issues with patients and their families.

In a video recorded for the event, Dr. Welllman focused on the importance of communicating frequently and with sensitivity during this vulnerable time in the lives of patients and their families. He credited each individual role on interdisciplinary hospice team for their roles in working with him to provide holistic, high quality care.

The award noted his leadership role in the mentoring and teaching of healthcare professionals and for his public advocacy at the national level on behalf of hospice and palliative care patients everywhere.

Dr. Wellman has directed the agency’s medical care since he joined the agency as Chief Medical Officer in 1999. In addition to the thousands of patients he has cared for, he has also mentored and taught more than 3,000 medical, social work, allied health, pharmacy and nursing students via the agency’s Hospice Institute.

Dr. Alfred F. Connors Jr. 
Dr. Alfred F. Connors, Jr. earned the 2016 Hospice Heroes Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Connors, Chief Medical Officer and Senior VP, Medical Affairs, at MetroHealth System, also serves as our Board Chair.

At the event, Dr. Connors spoke about his lifelong desire to do meaningful work that would make a significant difference in the lives of others.  He praised his colleagues at MetroHealth for their contributing roles, and also referenced how much he  values his roles as Hospice of the Western Reserve's Board Chair and his teaching relationship with Case Western Reserve University. 

Connors is credited with “challenging broadly accepted but unproved standards of care for critically ill and dying patients” and for practicing patient-centered medicine long before it was an industry trend.

Pictured in top photo, Dr. Charles Wellman, left and Dr. Alfred F. Connors Jr.