NHF to Launch the Zachary Morfogen Art of Caring Award at Reception at HBO in New York City

NHF to Launch the Zachary Morfogen Art of Caring Award at Reception at HBO in New York City

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In honor of Zachary P. Morfogen, founding chair of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the National Hospice Foundation, NHF is establishing the Zachary Morfogen Art of Caring Award. This award will acknowledge the individuals or organizations who have used the arts as a means to inspire and increase awareness of end-of-life care and whose central focus of their art is related to end-of-life issues.

The award will formally be announced at an NHF reception held at HBO in New York City on June 23, 2011.

Author, playwright, artist, publishing executive and champion of the arts, Mr. Morfogen became one of the nation's earliest advocates for hospice care during his tenure as a trustee of Riverside Hospital in New Jersey. Morfogen persuaded Riverside Hospital to establish one of the nation's first free-standing hospices and convinced Time magazine to do a story about the hospice movement. Mr. Morfogen remains involved with the National Hospice Foundation, serving as an Honorary Trustee and holding the title Founding Chair Emeritus.

Awardees will be presented with a specially selected art prize that has been displayed at the Morfogen Gallery of the Arts, located within the National Center for Care at the End of Life. The names of all awardees will also be displayed in the Morfogen Gallery. Named for Zachary P. Morfogen, the Gallery of the Arts recognizes Morfogen's work on behalf of hospice care and his life-long dedication to improving care for those at the end of life.

"We are so pleased that NHF will be able to now formally recognize the importance of the arts in educating people about end-of-life issues. For many, it's easier to understand information--and access feelings--about this period through artistic expression than other means," said J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of NHF and NHPCO.

The first Morfogen Art of Caring Award will be given at the eighth annual NHF Gala, to be held on March 30, 2012 in National Harbor, Maryland, in conjunction with NHPCO's Management and Leadership Conference. In future years, the award will be given as appropriate, to be decided by the NHF Executive Committee.

SOURCE National Hospice Foundation

National Hospice Foundation

CONTACT: Susan Messina, +1-571-275-4324, smessina@nationalhospicefoundation.org

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