It is with great honor that I share the winners of the 2023 CU Anschutz GIM Excellence Award winners. Each of the team members have been dedicated to the field of palliative care, and I am so fortunate to call these folks coworkers and friends.
Christina Vaughan, MD, MHS, Associate Professor (christina.vaughan@CUAnschutz.edu) joined the Departments of Neurology and Medicine in August, 2017 and is the Chief of the section of Neuro-palliative care and attends on the inpatient Palliative care service. After attending graduate school in public health and pursuing clinical neuroscience research at the NIH and Johns Hopkins, Dr. Vaughan recognized that she was more interested in taking care of patients with neurologic disease. She went to medical school and graduated from the State University of NY at Buffalo, in her hometown. She completed Neurology residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and then went to Chicago to complete a 2-year fellowship in Movement Disorders at Rush University Medical Center. After several years of practice, she realized she wanted to broaden the scope of the care she could provide and went back to training for one more year and completed a fellowship in Palliative Medicine/Hospice in San Diego, CA. Dr. Vaughan considered this training one of the highlights of her career and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about comprehensive care of patients and families and about communication. She was thrilled to combine her background and palliative medicine training with a position at CU and has enjoyed being part of such wonderful teams – both in the inpatient and outpatient arenas.
Ashley Dixon Anderson is a Hospice / Palliative Care Specialist in Aurora, Colorado. She graduated with honors from University Of Toledo College Of Medicine in 2009. Having more than 15 years of diverse experiences, especially in hospice and palliative care, emergency medicine and internal medicine. Dr. Ashley E Dixon Anderson affiliates with University Of Colorado Hospital Authority, cooperates with many other doctors and specialists in medical group University Physicians Incorporated.
Darcy Campbell, AGNP-C is a Colorado Native. She graduated from University of Colorado College of Nursing with her BSN in 1998. She worked at the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System as a RN. She graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 2004 with a Master’s in Nursing Education. Darcy coordinated the VA Clinical Scholar Program, the RN Transition to Practice Program and held a Joint Appointment Faculty Position at Regis University, teaching undergraduate nursing students both in the classroom and in the clinical setting. In 2018, Darcy graduated with a Post Master’s Certificate, Adult Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, from the University of Colorado’s College of Nursing. She worked in home hospice, community palliative care and inpatient hospice before transitioning to University of Colorado Hospital, where she currently works on the inpatient palliative care team as a NP.
Rocco Miele AGNP-C is an advance practice provider and NP at UC Health Hospital. Initially, Miele worked as a construction consultant having attended the University of Colorado Boulder College of Engineering & Applied Science and University of Texas – San Antonio. Due to a life altering illness, he decided to pursue nursing. He earned his nursing degree from the University of Colorado in 2015 and worked as an oncology nurse before going back to school for his MSN. In Miele was honored with a DAISY Award in January of 2018 for his exemplary care with patients living with serious illness. Rocco transitioned to the UCH Inpatient Palliative Care team four years ago and is adored by the patients he cares for. He enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, visiting with his family, and being outdoors.
Kelly Arora PhD is Assistant Professor and MSPC Capstone Course Director. She is also the John Wesley Iliff Senior Adjunct Lecturer in Spiritual Care at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Kelly has taught courses on the relationship between spirituality and health at the Regis University School of Pharmacy, as well as courses in interprofessional ethics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Her passion for spirituality in health care began when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis over 25 years ago. Kelly is President of the Board for Centus Counseling, Consulting and Education. She has a private practice in spiritual direction and shamanic Reiki healing and guidance. Kelly and her husband live in Highlands Ranch CO. She has an amazing son, daughter, and son-in-law. Everyone in the family loves walking and trying new foods together.
Melissa C. Palmer, JD, LCSW, ACHP-SW, APHSW-C started her career as an BA psychology graduate working in community-based children’s programs in the Mountains of Northern Appalachia. After her graduate studies in Master’s in Social Work/Juris Doctor program at the University of Denver, Melissa’s practice expanded to mental health and medical social work at Sutter Health. In 2005, she teamed with the local hospice director and nurse to design and implement a hospital based palliative care program in Northern California. She moved to Kaiser Permanente Northern California in 2007 where she worked as an inpatient palliative care social worker. When Melissa and her family moved back to Colorado in 2014, she teamed with a nurse practitioner at a home-based community palliative care program that served Colorado Foothills communities. She currently works at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus on the inpatient palliative care team. Melissa Palmer received her certification for advance practice social worker in the field of hospice and palliative care (ACHP-SW in 2017 and APHSW-C in 2019). In January 2021, Melissa transitioned to the MSPC Director and Allied Health lead.
Hareklia (Harri) Brackett is an Advanced Practice Nurse and Clinical Nurse Specialist from the Colorado State Board of Nursing (2003) and has had her Advance Certification in Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing (ACHPN) since 2006. She has 35 years of nursing experience and has worked in the areas of inpatient and outpatient oncology and blood disorders in the capacity of staff nurse, nurse coordinator, case manager, clinical nurse educator, and clinical nurse specialist. She has served as the lead advanced practice provider for the UCH Inpatient Palliative Care Consult Service since its origination in 2005 and is faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and an assistant professor for the Master of Science in Palliative Care (MSPC) program. She serves on the Communication Curriculum team for the MSPC. She has been the co-facilitator of the bi-annual End of Life Nursing Education Curriculum (ELNEC) and the UCH Annual Current Perspectives on Palliative Care conference for the past 17 years.
Kudos to an exemplary group of palliative care community specialists!