Emory's Schwartz Center

Emory's Schwartz Center
Name	Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare at Emory
Formation	1995
Type	Nonprofit
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia
Location	Emory University School of Medicine
Leaders	Board of Directors

Emory's Schwartz Center

Emory's Schwartz Center is a nonprofit center based at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia dedicated to promoting compassionate care in clinical settings. Founded with ties to the broader Schwartz Center movement, the center engages clinicians, administrators, educators, researchers, and patient advocates through programs that intersect with major institutions such as Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, Mayo Clinic, University of California, San Francisco, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Its work links to national initiatives involving organizations like the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, National Institutes of Health, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

History

The center traces origins to the national Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare model and to philanthropy influenced by figures associated with the Schwartz family and benefactors connected to Emory Healthcare and the Emory University School of Medicine. Early partnerships included collaborations with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Stanford Health Care. Over time, leaders aligned the center with clinical educators from Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, policy experts from The Commonwealth Fund, and ethics scholars from Kennedy Institute of Ethics and Georgetown University. The center’s timeline intersects initiatives led by prominent health policy figures affiliated with Kathleen Sebelius, Tom Daschle, Atul Gawande, Ira Byock, and Paul Farmer.

Mission and Programs

The center's mission emphasizes compassionate communication and clinician resilience, aligning with national priorities championed by Department of Veterans Affairs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and World Health Organization. Core programs include staff support rounds modeled on practices at Boston Medical Center, narrative medicine workshops in the tradition of Columbia University’s programs, and ethics facilitation akin to offerings at Yale School of Medicine. Educational curricula have been developed with input from faculty at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Grants and awards have been received or competed for through Gates Foundation, Kaiser Family Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, and Health Resources and Services Administration.

Clinical and Educational Initiatives

Clinical initiatives include clinician-patient communication training used by teams from Emory Healthcare, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Grady Health System, and specialty services influenced by approaches at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Educational initiatives span interprofessional workshops involving Nursing Schools at Georgia State University, chaplaincy training in partnership with Emory Healthcare Physician Assistant Program, and simulation exercises adapted from Society for Simulation in Healthcare standards. Programs incorporate narrative rounds influenced by Anne Lamott, reflective writing methods connected to Rita Charon’s work at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and palliative care curricula echoing Center to Advance Palliative Care resources. Trainees from Morehouse School of Medicine, Spelman College, Brenau University, Mercer University School of Medicine, and visiting fellows from Oxford University and University of Cambridge have participated.

Research and Evaluation

The center conducts mixed-methods research and program evaluation with collaborators at Emory Rollins School of Public Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the National Cancer Institute. Research topics include clinician burnout studies paralleling work at Stanford Medicine and measurement efforts similar to those at RAND Corporation and Pew Research Center. Methodological partnerships have included Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Duke University School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Evaluation frameworks draw on psychometrics from American Psychological Association guidance and implementation science from National Implementation Research Network.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The center maintains formal and informal collaborations with academic medical centers like Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Cleveland Clinic, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital; professional societies such as American Board of Internal Medicine, Society of General Internal Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Association of Colleges of Nursing; and nonprofit partners including Palliative Care Institute, Hospice Foundation of America, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and The Joint Commission. International ties extend to World Health Organization projects, partnerships with NHS England, and exchanges with University College London and Karolinska Institutet.

Facilities and Location

Located on the Emory University campus in Atlanta, the center occupies spaces within the Emory University School of Medicine complex and collaborates with clinical sites across Emory University Hospital, Emory University Hospital Midtown, and Grady Memorial Hospital. Facility resources include seminar rooms used for workshops, simulation labs aligned with Emory Simulation Center, conference venues for symposia connected to Association for Healthcare Philanthropy events, and dedicated offices that host visiting scholars from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, and Johns Hopkins University.

Recognition and Impact

The center has been recognized by professional organizations including the American Hospital Association, The Joint Commission, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and Institute for Healthcare Improvement for contributions to compassionate care and clinician wellbeing. Impact is measured via implementation metrics shared with partners such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and published outcomes in journals affiliated with JAMA Network, The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, BMJ, and Annals of Internal Medicine. Its alumni and faculty networks include leaders who have gone on to roles at Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, Mayo Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Stanford University School of Medicine.

Category:Emory University Category:Healthcare organizations based in Georgia