PA POLST Coordinator Retires

Marian Kemp

With the announcement of her upcoming retirement, Marian Kemp, RN, BSBA leaves an accomplished legacy while she served as the PA POLST coordinator.

Following Kemp's initial retirement from Highmark Inc. in 2011 after serving as their Senior Markets project manager, she was appointed the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) coordinator of the Coalition for Quality at the End of Life under the auspices of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation. Over the past decade in this role, Kemp led the efforts to provide statewide information and education on the POLST process. She had a leadership role in the development of the POLST Training: Doing it Right, designed to help assure the quality of the POLST conversation and the design of the PA POLST website.

"On our twenty- year journey in advocating and advancing POLST, Marian was the true visionary who worked tirelessly behind scenes and I cannot thank her enough for her contributions," said Judith Black MD, medical advisor at the Jewish Healthcare Foundation.

As stated in her final POLST Notes, Kemp's wish is that the work continues and that greater understanding of the value of POLST to patients and families and healthcare professionals is achieved. Kemp will continue to be a member of CQEL representing community consumers.

Future inquiries about PA POLST can be directed to Nicole Greer, Senior Quality Improvement Specialist at the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, at info@papolst.org.