University of Virginia Health System

The PBS series On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying premieres September 10 and will air each night through Wednesday, September 13, from 9 to 10:30 p.m. EST on local PBS stations. Journalist Bill Moyers will report on the intimate, end-of-life journeys of more than a dozen individuals, their families and their caregivers as they struggle to infuse the end of life with compassion and caring. The series tries to break through the culture of denial to wrestle with how we can die better in America.

Locally, there will be a Town Hall meeting on Thursday, September 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the Albemarle County Office Building. Its purpose is to facilitate a community discussion about barriers and opportunities for support and dignity in end-of-life care. In addition, a live, locally produced follow-up program will air from Richmond immediately follow the fourth segment.

Several members of the University of Virginia Health System community are closely involved with the program and the accompanying local projects. They are available to speak with media about the series and the issues it raises. These include:

• Dr. Carlos Gomez, medical director for the U.Va. Palliative Care Program
  Dr. Gomez is a featured physician on the third night of the program titled A Death of One's Own. He will also participate in the panel at the Charlottesville Town Hall meeting. Gomez is a nationally known expert in hospice and palliative care and euthanasia. He has spoken and written extensively on the subject.

• Jonathan Moreno, director for the U.Va. Center for Biomedical Ethics
  Moreno will participate in the follow-up program at 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 13. He is a nationally recognized ethicist who has written numerous books on the subject, including Deciding Together: Bioethics and Moral Consensus, Ethics in Clinical Practice, and Arguing Euthanasia.

• David Cattell-Gordon, director of community relations at the U.Va. Cancer Center and director of the U.Va. Center for Palliative Care
  Cattell-Gordon is chairing the September 7, Town Hall meeting. He is a member of the Central Virginia Palliative Care Initiative whose mission it is to encourage better dialogue and understanding of local resources available to individuals, families and caregivers who are struggling with end-of-life issues.

• Susan Goins-Eplee, director of patient support services at the U.Va. Cancer Center
  Goins-Eplee, a chaplain at U.Va., is featured on the third night of the program titled A Death of One's Own.

• Cindy Westley, community care manager at U.Va. Health System
  Westley was instrumental in putting together a local resource guide to aid in end-of-life questions and concerns including over 120 agencies serving Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the surrounding counties. The guide will be available at the Town Hall Meeting.

  September 5, 2000