Expert Category: Course presenter

Chaplain Kevin Orie serves as a chaplain at Hospice of the Chesapeake, offering spiritual and emotional care to patients facing life-limiting illnesses and their loved ones. Holding a Doctor of Ministry degree, specializing in chaplaincy studies from Lancaster Bible College, and a pastorate for nine years, he brings several years of experience in providing pastoral…

Rebecca Shiner is Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Colgate University, where she has taught since 1999. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1998 and completed her clinical internship at the University of Rochester Department of Psychiatry in 1999. She has published widely on multiple…

Siobhan Aaron is an Assistant Professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University and an inpatient palliative care nurse practitioner. Her clinical expertise includes hospice, end-of-life care, and grief interventions. Dr. Aaron’s research focuses on health disparities in palliative care, culturally centered grief interventions, and improving patient-provider communication about…

Shelley Wagener has been coordinating hospice volunteers for nearly twenty years, joining Willamette Vital Health in 2016. She works closely with her hospice colleagues to provide personalized support to patients and families to meet their care needs and bring enjoyment and meaning to their remaining time together. For the past eight years she has overseen…

Kathleen Benton is the CEO of Hospice Savannah, Inc. She is deeply involved in the region through volunteer advisory board roles with the Technical College System of Georgia’s local technical college and Georgia Southern University’s Waters College Advisory Board while holding professorships at Armstrong State University, Mercer University School of Medicine, and the Medical College…

Jennifer Ward is a Licensed Master Social Worker, Certified Financial Social Worker, and Certified Grief Informed Professional with over 15 years of experience supporting individuals and families in enhancing their lives and well-being. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Curry College and a master’s degree in social work from Boston College. Additionally, Jennifer…

Roberta Rook is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with over 30 years’ experience in the field of counseling. For 23 years, she has been working as a Bereavement Counselor and Program Coordinator for the bereavement counseling department of Hospice of the Chesapeake, known as the Chesapeake Life Center. Roberta received a post-graduate Certificate in Thanatology…

Hannah Righter graduated from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Music Therapy and is a Board-Certified Music Therapist and the Director of Arts at The Connecticut Hospice. She has presented on the benefits of expressive therapies at area healthcare organizations and regional conferences. While experienced with a variety of populations, including special education,…

Karen Cassidy is the Founder and Executive Director of Hildegard House, Kentucky’s first and only comfort care home which provides a home and compassionate care for those at the end of life who have no home or loved ones to care for them so that they may die with dignity. Karen has been blessed with…

Theresa Jennings is the Director of Therapeutic Services at Hudson Valley Hospice in New York. With over twenty years of professional experience, Teri has dedicated her career to focusing on the needs of both the pediatric and geriatric demographic in accord with the patient’s level of perspective and comfort in mind. Teri states that she…

Teresa Holstein is the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Hudson Valley Hospice in New York. With over a decade of hospice experience, Teresa’s career spans leadership roles in community programs, large hospital-based programs, and multi-site programs. Teresa’s hospice career began as a family caregiver, her grandmother’s end-of-life experience serving as the inspiration…

André Cernasov joined Agrace in August 2024 and is board certified in both family medicine and hospice & palliative medicine. Prior to this role, he practiced inpatient and outpatient palliative medicine at Advocate Aurora Health from 2021 to 2024, where he also served as the Associate Program Director for the Aurora HPM Fellowship in Milwaukee,…