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
VITAS Appoints Irene L. Prather, MD
Medical Director in Dallas
Dallas, Texas, April 6, 2010—VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® of Dallas announces the appointment of Irene Prather, MD, of Frisco, as Medical Director. In this role, Prather is responsible for overseeing the medical care and treatment of VITAS patients in their homes, nursing homes and assisted living communities in Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties, and at the VITAS inpatient hospice unit in Irving.
Board certified in family practice and in hospice and palliative medicine, Prather has more than 30 years of experience providing medical care to patients in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and in other parts of Texas as well as in Colorado.
As a VITAS medical director, Prather 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 She also assists in the management of complex symptoms including pain.
“Dr. Prather is driven to provide the highest level of hospice and palliative care for her patients,” says Kevin Yarrow, VITAS general manager. “Her wealth of experience as a medical director, physician educator and hospice physician will make her a valuable resource not only to our VITAS organization, but also to the Dallas-area medical community.”
Prior to joining VITAS, Prather held the position of medical director in various facilities, including Valor Healthcare in Denton and East Texas Medical Center Rural Health Clinic in Tyler. She has served as a physician educator for the St. Anthony’s Family Practice Residence Program in Denver, Colorado, and as a faculty member at Baylor Family Residency Program in Garland, Texas, where she was honored as Teacher of the Year in 2008-2009. Earlier in her career, she served as health director in Jefferson County, Texas, and was a staff physician in medical practices in both Texas and Colorado.
Prather received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at El Paso, and her medical degree at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She completed an internship at Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas, and a residency at Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Lubbock, Texas.
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 45 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.
