FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Kal Mistry, Chief Administrative Officer/Senior Vice President
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®, 305.350.5990
Megan Carella, APR, Public Relations Editor
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®, 352.560.3415

Local Physician Named Medical Director For VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®

Houston, Texas, March 22, 2010— Kenneth Unger, MD, FACP, FCCP, FAASM, has been appointed Medical Director for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® of Houston, responsible for overseeing the medical care and treatment of VITAS patients in their homes and in nursing homes, assisted living communities and personal care homes in Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller counties and in the VITAS inpatient hospice unit at Memorial Hermann Memorial City Hospital in Houston.

With board certifications in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, critical care medicine and sleep medicine, Unger brings more than 40 years of extensive medical experience to his role. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

As a VITAS medical director, Unger consults with patients’ attending physicians, supervises VITAS team physicians, guides staff and volunteers, and serves as a resource to practicing physicians and other healthcare professionals on the benefits of hospice and palliative care for patients and their families.

Prior to joining VITAS, Unger practiced as a pulmonary disease, critical care medicine, and sleep medicine specialist in the Clear Lake area of Texas.  At Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Webster, Texas, he served on the Ethics Committee for 26 years, was chairman of the Medical Informatics Committee for 15 years, and served as chairman of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee for five years. He was also was medical director of the sleep laboratory at that hospital for 24 years. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Unger served as a pulmonary disease specialist at 2nd General Hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. He has held numerous academic appointments at teaching hospitals in Texas, California and Pennsylvania and has published articles in research studies in several medical journals. 

Unger received his bachelor’s degree from Harpur College at the State University of New York in Binghamton, New York, and his medical degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. He completed an internship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, New York. He completed a fellowship and special research in pulmonary disease at the University of California at San Diego.

Unger is a member of several professional associations, including the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
 
VITAS Innovative Hospice Care®, a pioneer and leader in the hospice movement since 1978, is one of the nation’s largest providers of end-of-life care. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) operates 44 hospice programs in 16 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin). VITAS employs 9,625 professionals who care for terminally ill patients daily, primarily in the patients’ homes, but also in the company’s 30 inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the fourth quarter of 2009, VITAS reported an average daily census of 12,142.  Visit www.vitas.com.