CORVALLIS — Dr. Shawn Foley, a family practitioner with The Corvallis Clinic Philomath Family Medicine, was named the 2014 Oregon Hospice Dream Team Physician of the Year by the Oregon Hospice Association at its recent Professional Practices Exchange in Bend.
“This is the greatest honor I could receive because it comes from people whom I consider heroes,” said Dr. Foley, who is also medical director for Benton Hospice Service. “Firefighters rush toward burning buildings and they are my heroes, too, but hospice nurses and staff are some of the bravest people emotionally I have ever known. To willingly be present, make a connection, and truly care for people whom one knows that one will lose soon is an incredible skill that not many can do. The compassion that they show humbles me.”
Each year, the Oregon Hospice Association honors individuals who exemplify the best in quality hospice care by naming the Hospice Dream Team, which is made up of a physician, nurse, hospice aide, social worker, chaplain, volunteer and a professional staff member.
“Dr. Foley is the rare physician who is the perfect combination of knowledgeable expert and compassionate caregiver,” Benton Hospice Service Executive Director Kelly Beard said in her organization’s press release announcing the honor. “An expert in hospice and palliative-care medicine, he is also kind, caring, and supportive of our hospice patients as well as a teacher, cheerleader and champion of Benton Hospice staff.”
Dr. Foley began his association with Benton Hospice Service as a board member in 2003, and he became its medical director in 2008. In 2010, he became a board-certified hospice and palliative-care physician.
“I have always had an interest in this area of medicine” Dr. Foley said, “as I think it is perhaps one of the most important times in all of our lives. We can learn so much from people who are leaving us – the way they face their passing teaches us a lot. It is an honor to care for them. Helping people to pass away comfortably in their own homes is something that seems uncommon today, but used to be what we all did not that long ago.
“Dr. Foley is excellent to work with,” said medical social worker Ronda McLean in the press release. “He is approachable and available. I am very happy to be a part of Benton Hospice because of the respect and concern that Dr. Foley shows for our patients and staff members.”
The Oregon Hospice Association (OHA) is a statewide public benefit organization helping to ensure Oregonians have access to high quality hospice and palliative care as they near the end of life.
Benton Hospice Service, a member of the OHA, is a non-profit organization providing compassionate care for seriously ill people and their families, as well as community support through community education and support groups. Benton Hospice has served Linn and Benton counties since 1980.
The Corvallis Clinic, an independent, physician-led medical group, is a comprehensive multi-specialty organization, serving Benton, Linn and Lincoln counties. It offers more than 100 board-certified providers and advanced professionals in 27 specialties at nine area locations. As the fourth-largest area employer, The Clinic has 600 employees.
