Health Link Quarterly 502
End of Life Care
Original Broadcast:  Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 9pm ET

We spend so much time focused on our every day lives that we often forget to plan for the future.  That can be very troubling if we ignore planning for our health at the end of our days.  Failing to make end of life plans means we might have to endure treatments we don't want.  Join Benita Zahn for a special one hour edition of Health Link examining end of life care.

Guests:
Walter T. Burke, Esq.
With the intention to build a law firm based on shared values, Walter T. Burke, along with his partner, Timothy E. Casserly, founded the Albany, New York-based law firm of Burke & Casserly, P.C.  In 1988 they created a law firm that emphasizes concern for the clients and features highly skilled practitioners.  Walter began his career in the tax, estate planning and financial planning practice areas. In addition to more than 20 years of providing traditional estate planning services to his clients, Walter has earned a distinguished reputation in the practice area of elder law. He is actively involved with several professional associations including the American Bar Association in which he serves as Chair Elect to the Senior Lawyers Division. Within this Division he is Chair of the Elder Law Committee, serves on the Executive Committee of the Division, and is liaison to the Business Law Committee.  Walter serves on the Elder Law Executive Committee and is a former Chair of the Elder Law Section, which has over 2,500 attorneys in New York State. Walter's depth of experience was conveyed when he-along with his partner, Tim Casserly, Esq., co-authored the consumer planning guide Boomer Basics: Everything You Need to Know About the Issues Facing You, Your Children, and Your Parents, published by McGraw Hill.  Walter is a nationally known speaker and lecturer, explaining various retirement, elder law, estate and financial planning topics.

Burke & Casserly law firm is devoted to planning for all aspects of an individual's financial endeavors.  Whether you want to develop an estate plan to protect assets, complete a real estate transaction, or devise a business succession plan, their attorneys concentrate in the business and individual legal concerns that affect a person's life.
http://www.burkecasserly.com/index.php

Burke & Casserly, P.C.
255 Washington Avenue Ext.
Albany, NY 12205
(518) 452-1961

George Giokas , MD
Specializing in Internal Medicine, Dr. George Giokas has practiced in Schenectady since 1983. After earning his Doctor of Medicine degree at George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., Dr. Giokas completed his residency at Albany Medical Center Hospital.  Dr. Giokas is an attending physician at Ellis and St. Clare's Hospitals, and a consulting physician at Sunnyview Hospital and Rehabilitation Center. In addition, he serves as Medical Director of The Community Hospice of Schenectady, Chief of General Internal Medicine at Ellis Hospital, and as a member of the Ethics Committees at Ellis Hospital and St. Clare's Hospital.  Dr. Giokas is certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine by the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

The Community Hospice's mission is to serve seriously ill people and their families through the process of dying & grieving and to enhance quality of life with comprehensive, compassionate services that respect the dignity of those we serve.  The Community Hospice provides its services from six centers located throughout the Capital Region.  Phone:  (518) 724-0242
http://communityhospice.org/

Suzanne Muller
Suzanne knows firsthand the importance of planning for end of life. Her sister and two of her brothers have Huntington's disease, a hereditary and fatal disorder.

David Pilliod
David Pilliod is Chaplin and Director of Pastoral Care at St. Mary's Hospital at Amsterdam.

More than a hospital, St. Mary's at Amsterdam has become a highly accessible healthcare system with four offsite family health centers and seven behavioral health service locations throughout two counties. Founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1903, St. Mary's Hospital is dedicated to improving the health of the entire community, providing healthcare services that address the spiritual as well as social, emotional and physical needs of patients, with special attention to the poor and underserved.
http://www.smha.org/

St. Mary's Hospital at Amsterdam
427 Guy Park Ave.
Amsterdam, New York 12010
(518) 842-1900

Wayne Shelton, Ph.D., M.S.W.
Wayne Shelton earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Tennessee, with a concentration in medical ethics. He also has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Chicago with a certificate in Health Administration and Policy from the Harris School of Public Policy, and was a Fellow at the McClean Center For Medical Ethics, University of Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Shelton is program director of a Charitable Leadership Foundation funded study of ethical issues in intensive care and in particular the effect of ethics and social work interventions on length of stay.  He is an Associate Professor in the Alden March Bioethics Institute at The Albany Medical Center and Co-Director of AMBI graduate programs. Dr. Shelton is Associate Project Director of a project on "E-Education in Research Ethics: Central and Eastern Europe" funded by the Fogarty Center, National Institutes of Health.  In recent years Dr. Shelton's research activity has focused on ethical issues in alcoholism, physician-patient relationship, medical futility and the challenges of ethics education in medical schools. He has published in professional journals, as well as the editor of two books, and is Co-Editor of the book series Advances in Bioethics published by Elsevier.

The Alden March Bioethics Institute (AMBI) is a multi-institutional bioethics research institute based at the Albany Medical College and its Medical Center, and directed by Dr. Glenn McGee. AMBI was founded in 2005 to conduct state-of-the-art research, teaching and outreach concerning ethical issues in the health sciences.
http://www.bioethics.org/

Alden March Bioethics Institute
47 New Scotland Avenue MC153
Albany NY 12208
(518) 262-6082

Elizabeth Kirby Walsh, LMSW
Elizabeth Kirby Walsh is the Palliative Care Case Manager for St. Peter's Health Care Services located in Albany, NY.

Founded by the Religious Sisters of Mercy in 1869 as St. Peter's Hospital, St. Peter's Health Care Services today provides New York's Capital Region with a comprehensive, integrated continuum of care.
http://www.sphcs.org/

St. Peter's Health Care Services 
315 South Manning Blvd.
Albany, NY  12208
(518) 525-1293