Curriculum Development and Training Specialist
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care
Hospice Education and Resource Training (HEaRT)
100 S. Biscayne Blvd
Miami
FLUSA
33131
Biographical Sketch: Ellen Barnard is the Curriculum Development &Training Specialist for the Hospice Education & Resource Training (HEaRT) Department at VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, where she is primarily responsible for the development and implementation of new VITAS employee orientation. Ellen began work in the healthcare industry in 1994, when she worked for Kentucky’s Health Care Policy Board which focused on health care reform. She then went on to work for Kentucky’s Medicaid program as the manager of Member Services. During her state government tenure of ten years, she was responsible for creating the state’s first member handbook and hotline – providing a more informed and accessible environment. She also played a role in regulating and monitoring healthcare services for approximately 750,000 Medicaid recipients and ensured that high risk non-Medicaid individuals in the state of Kentucky had access to affordable health insurance. Ellen has spent her entire professional career as an advocate for persons making their way through the world of healthcare, be that Medicaid, private insurance or hospice. Ellen, who joined VITAS in 2006, works as the lead on curriculum development of psychosocial and spiritual issues important to patients and families at end-of-life, as well as train VITAS patient care staff on those and many other issues directed by program/staff need. Ellen is a member of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).