Be part of the transformation of End of Life Care
Inaugural H. Peter Burg National Symposium on Palliative Care
April 27-29, 2027
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: Reimagining a Comprehensive Collaboration in End-of-Life Care
Hosted by the Office of Palliative Care at Northeast Ohio Medical University
Rootstown, Ohio
Opening Night Speaker
Keynote Dinner | Tuesday, April 27, 2027
Richard F. Groves JCL, MA, MDiv
Professor Richard Groves is an internationally respected teacher on topics related to the end of life the soul and science of end of life care. A chaplain and counselor for thirty years, Richard speaks nine languages and has earned graduated degrees in medical ethics, pastoral theology, world religions and canon law. Richard was ordained a Roman Catholic priest and served as a volunteer chaplain and ethicist for the US Air Force and numerous North American health care systems.
Richard with his late wife, Mary, co-founded the Sacred Art of Living Center in Bend, Oregon in 1996. More than twenty thousand students throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania have graduated from the Sacred Art of Living & Dying training courses including more than three thousand physicians worldwide. Richard’s book, The American Book of Living & Dying: Lessons in Healing Spiritual Pain has been widely compared to the groundbreaking work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. In 2006 the Groves created The Anamcara Project, a first of its kind professional apprenticeship in the arts of living and dying.
Richard has a passion for bringing together the worlds of spirituality, medical science, psychology and cultural diversity. As a university professor of philosophy and world religions, Richard is an advocate for a more innovative approach to education on issues related to eldercare and end-of-life caregiving.
Groves is a highly sought-after keynote speaker at conferences internationally on topics that include caregiver wellness, aging and palliative care. He continues to work as a tireless advocate for a more effective and holistic approach to pain management and human suffering. His latest project in an on-line education program called the Soul & Science for Caregivers. Richard is most proud of his family that includes three sons, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Featured Speakers
Michael D. Connelly served as the CEO of Mercy Health, one of the nation's largest health systems, from 1994 to 2017. Currently, he is CEO Emeritus of Mercy Health (now Bon Secours Mercy Health). His 45 year healthcare career has involved senior leadership positions with two of the nation’s largest US Catholic Health Systems (Ascension and Bon Secours Mercy).
In 2023, his book, The Journey's End: An Investigation of Death and Dying in Modern America, was published by Rowman & Littlefield. He has also published 18 articles in various healthcare journals, and currently lives on Johns Island, South Carolina.
Michael D. Connelly
Deanna Flores Cochran
Deanna Flores Cochran, RN, is a retired hospice nurse of 15 years, formerly board-certified in hospice and palliative nursing (CHPN), author, educator, and pioneer in the end-of-life doula movement. Since 2000, her life's work has focused on reducing suffering through earlier access to palliative care and skilled support for people and families navigating advanced illness, long before hospice begins.
Founder of CareDoula® Education in 2005, she created the first end-of-life doula certificate program in the United States in 2010. Deanna is a founding member of the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance and served as the first Chair of the End-of-Life Doula Advisory Council within the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO).
She continues to champion collaboration between healthcare, education, and community-based end-of-life care.
Omni Kitts Ferrara
Omni Kitts Ferrara brings extensive expertise to the fields of doula care and end-of-life education. A registered nurse specializing in Labor & Delivery and Hospice, Omni has supported families through birth, perinatal loss, sudden death, and terminal illness with unwavering presence and skill. Her doula work spans the full spectrum—serving as a community-centered birth and death doula, Certified Breastfeeding Specialist, and a volunteer in pediatric and adult hospice.
Omni is the Director of Education for INELDA, where she designs curriculum and trains hundreds of learners each year in trauma-informed, culturally aware approaches to dying, grief, and companioning. Her leadership extends to national advocacy through her roles on the Education Workgroup, Palliative Care Council, and the Diversity, Access, and Health Disparities Workgroup within the Alliance for Care at Home.
Holly Larson
Holly Larson is the founder of Your Chief Care Officerâ„¢ and creator of Care Like a Leaderâ„¢.
Through interviews with executives, entrepreneurs, researchers, and family caregivers, she explores how care is reshaping families, workplaces, care services and technology, and society.
Holly’s original visual frameworks and care planning and decision-making tools make the complexity of care more visible and reframe caregiving as a form of leadership and systems management. Through speaking, workshops, thought leadership, marketing campaigns, and strategic collaborations, she helps organizations engage their audiences, rethink care, and move from awareness to action.
Schedule Coming Soon
CME/CEUs available.
Forge new pathways alongside other medical professionals, end-of-life doulas, and community members in the shared goal of making end-of-life care better.
A Gathering Like No Other
Getting to the conference
Northeast Ohio Medical University is in Rootstown, OH, about 45 minutes from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
COMING SOON: Recommended hotels & transportation options.