Gretchen Marcum Brown, MSW, has been the President and CEO of Hospice of the Bluegrass (HOB) since January 1982. Ms. Brown is a current member of the Board of Directors of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO); the Foundation for Hospices in Sub Saharan Africa (FHSSA); and the Kentucky Association of Hospices and Palliative Care (KAHPC). She has chaired numerous committees for both the NHPCO and the KAHPC (KAHPC), serves on the Executive Committee of each, and continues to work in differing capacities for the two organizations over and above her Board duties.

Ms. Brown is the past Chair of the National Hospice Work Group, a “think tank” composed of leaders from around the U.S. considered to be among the most influential authorities on end-of-life care in this country. Presently, she serves on the Bluegrass Mental Health/Mental Retardation Board. Recently, the Governor of Kentucky appointed her to the KY Breast Cancer Task Force. Additionally, she serves on the Board of the Actors Guild of Lexington, the Advisory Board for the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Arts & Sciences, and is a member of the Board of the UK College of Public Health, External Advisory Council.

Ms. Brown has received numerous awards from health and community groups for exemplary service. The Lane Report, a Kentucky business publication, selected her as one of Central Kentucky’s top women in business. Under her leadership, in 2001 the JCAHO survey awarded HOB a score of 100, a score given to only 3% of all healthcare organizations across the country. In 2002, HOB was presented the Circle of Life Award, an annual honor given by the American Hospital Association to three (3) healthcare agencies from across the country that exhibit superior patient and community service. In 2003, Ms. Brown received the NHPCO Heart of Hospice Award, which is presented annually to someone in the hospice community who has shown remarkable commitment and vision in service to others. Also in 2003, the Palliative Care Center of the Bluegrass (PCCB), of which Ms. Brown is the President & CEO, received a three-year, $750,000 Robert Woods Johnson Foundation Grant, administered by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), to train other hospices and hospitals in the PCCB model of hospice/hospital collaboration.

Over the years, Ms. Brown has made hundreds of presentations to thousands of participants who, if feedback is valid, have found her quick wit and warm personality a pleasure.

Ms. Brown received her BA from the University of Kentucky in 1971 and her MSW from the same institution in 1973. She has taught in the UK College of Social Work and presently serves as adjunct facility in the UK College of Health Sciences.