The National Consensus Project (NCP) has announced the first recipients of the Quality in Palliative Care Leadership Award. This award is presented annually to recognize organizations which have enhanced their palliative care services by implementing the palliative care principles espoused by the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care and the National Quality Forum. The award is supported by the Mayday Fund, based in New York City.

The following nine organizations are the 2009 Quality in Palliative Care Leadership Award winners:

• Center for Comprehensive Palliative Care - Ocala, Florida
• Community PedsCare - Jacksonville, Florida
• Hope Hospice and Community Services – Fort Myers, Florida
• Hospice of the Western Reserve – Cleveland, Ohio
• Motion Picture and Television Fund - Woodland Hills, California
• Our Lady of Lourdes Memorial Hospital - Binghamton, New York
• Stony Brook University Medical Center- Stony Brook, New York
• St. Rose Dominican Hospitals Palliative Care Acute Care Program - Henderson, Nevada
• Thomas Palliative Care Program - Richmond, Virginia

Each of these nine programs will receive organizational recognition and a $2,500 monetary award. A representative from each winning organization will also be invited to officially receive their award during the 2009 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine/Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association Annual Assembly in Austin, Texas or the 2009 National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Management and Leadership Conference in Washington D.C.