BIOGRAPHY

Marisette B Hasan

Principal & CEO, LifeSprings Consulting Group, LLC

EDUCATION:

 University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC; Bachelor of Science in Nursing

 

Personal Statement

 

I have worked professionally as an RN since 1981 in various roles: oncology nurse, hospice nurse, clinical manager, home health and hospice administrator and nurse consultant. I am passionately engaged in supporting hospice and palliative care providers in North and South Carolina through leadership, innovation, public advocacy, and regulatory technical assistance.

 

In addition, with the onset of COVID-19 and the enormous disparity and health inequities that have been spotlighted, I have been sought after by the serious illness care provider community to provide consultation on matters of diversity, equity and inclusion regionally as well as nationally.  As an African American nurse and Senior Executive Leader, I bring a unique perspective and experience to assist those who desire to increase access to care to our black and brown communities.  During the past six years, I led a grassroots advance care planning awareness initiative which was funded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of SC (1.8M) in (5) rural and underserved black and brown communities, that included but is not limited to focus groups of Black and White patients on their perceptions of advance care planning education, the launch of a consumer friendly website (www.mylifemychoices.org), evidenced based training for clinicians on how to conduct advanced care planning conversations and the launch of pilot eRegistry to house advanced directives and electronically executed POST (Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment) documents.  The conclusion of this initiative involved a pilot expansion with (2) primary care providers whose patient base is predominantly African American. This project involved creating a care flow process to engage in consistent advance care planning conversations with Black patients.  In addition, clinicians were trained in how to conduct culturally competent advance care planning conversations with their black patients.

 

I have participated as a guest speaker/panel facilitator for regional and national forums sponsored by CTAC (The Center to Transform Advanced Care) and NHPCO (The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) & TCC (The Carolinas Center), The New York Hospice & Palliative Care Association, The Georgia Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and Grant Makers in Health Annual Symposium.  As a speaker I to raise awareness and promote public advocacy on issues of how to build a culture of trust and serious illness care delivery in black and brown communities.  I serve as a consultant to train leaders and primary care staff on how to engage in authentic, trusting conversations with African American patients and how to build a culture that embraces diversity, equity and inclusion from the inside out. I am further engaged in research as an expert community stakeholder Co-Investigator for a PCORI grant (EQUAL ACP) initiative led by Dr. Kimberly Johnson to investigate and implement effective tools to eliminate advance care planning disparities among African Americans in 5 states.  I am also engaged in a research initiative entitle “EQUAL SPACE” which is an Advance Care Planning (ACP) Train the Trainer program for Pastors and Health Care Leaders in their churches. I am assisting to write an spiritual centered ACP curriculum (at the request of the churches) that can be used with their parishioners.

 

Positions, Scientific Appointments and Honors

 

Positions & Employment

 

2008 - Present       Principal/CEO, LifeSprings Consulting Group, LLC

2022 - Present       Senior Policy Advisor, CTAC (Center to Transform Advanced Care)

2023 - Present       Program Coordinator, SC Serious Illness Coalition for the Care of the Seriously Ill

2021 - Present       Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Consultant, Telios Collaborative Network

2018 - 2022              President & CEO, The Carolinas Center for Hospice & End of Life Care

2014 - 2017              Vice President, The Carolinas Center for Hospice & End of Life Care

2010 - 2014             Administrator, LHC SC Hospice and Palliative Care

2005 - 2008            Administrator, Heartland Hospice

2001 - 2005            Administrator, Care Pro Home Health

1997 - 2001             Cancer Health Screening Initiative Director, Palmetto Health Alliance

1985 - 1997             RN/Clinical Manager, Palmetto Hospice

1981 - 1985             Oncology Nurse, Palmetto Baptist Hospital

 

Scientific Appointments

 

2023  -  Present    Board Member, Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP)

2022  -  2023           Member, HH & Hospice CMS Quality Reporting Health Equity Technical Expert Panel (TEP)

2022  -  Present    Board Member, The John and Wauna Harmon Foundation

2022  -  Present    Vice Chair, SC Alliance for a Healthier SC

2021  -  Present     Steering Committee, Project EQUITY, CAPC (The Center to Advance Palliative Care)

2021  -  Present    Member, Race Dialogue Advisory Council, Ariadne Labs

2021  -  Present    Chair, The SC Coalition for the Care of the Seriously Ill

2021  -  Present    Member, NHPCO Diversity Advisory Council

2020  -  Present   Member, North Carolina Serious Illness Coalition

2020  -  2021           Member, SC Pandemic Ethics Advisory Council

2020  -  2022          Member, NHPCO Palliative Care Advisory Council

2019  -  Present    Member, African American Advance Care Planning/ Palliative Care Network

2019  -  2022           Member of the NHPCO Council of States

2018  -  Present    Member, CTAC, Interfaith Council/State Coalition Task Force

2018  -  Present    Member, Education Committee, SC Community Faith Nurses Association

2014  -  Present    Member, SC Medical Association Ethics Committee

 

Honors

​

2024   SC Palmetto Gold Award Recipient

2024   Nursing Excellence Award Recognition

1997    Inductee, Community Leader, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, Columbia, SC

1996   Ordained Elder, Chosen 2 Conquer International Ministries

1987   Co-Recipient, Nurse of the Year Award, Baptist Medical Center, Columbia, SC

 

Certifications

 

2017    ELNEC Trainer (End of Life Nursing Education Consortium)

2018    Respecting Choices Facilitator

2018    Serious Illness Conversation Guide Trainer

 

Contributions to Science

 

1. Provided expertise, implementation, and oversight to ensure the successful outcomes for an Advance Care Planning Grassroots Initiative entitled My Life My Choices focused on patients in rural and underserved black and brown communities in 5 regions located in South Carolina.  This initiative is funded by the SC Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation.   This Advance Care Planning Initiative hosted by The Carolinas Center and led by Marisette Hasan is ongoing, since 2016.

2. Provided expertise in leading the Health Equity Committee in planning the 4th Annual Health Equity Summit held on March 23, 2022. I served as the host for our Health Equity Summit on behalf of the Alliance for a Healthier SC that convened more than 200 participants.  Topics addressed included, racism in healthcare, the impact of inequities and disparities highlighted during Covid, the intersectionality of faith and community engagement in black and brown communities and best practices in promoting organizational cultures of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

3. Participated as a subject matter expert for a Social Media Interview to raise awareness on the advocacy needed to dispel health inequities and disparities for care provided to patients who live in black and brown communities.  This interview was done during February 2021, National Black History Month, in conjunction with the launch of our updated African American Outreach Guide which was revised with the collaboration of myself and other members of the NHPCO Diversity Advisory Council.

4. Provided expertise with 2 other experts for the 2021 NHPCO Virtual Leadership and Advocacy Council, “It Takes A Village” in where I shared best practice strategies and outcomes when engaging with consumers, patients and clinicians who reside in African American communities.

5. Provided expertise and participated as a speaker sharing best practice principles and strategies necessary to identify implicit bias with the outcome of removing barriers to access and high-quality care received by African American patients and others. This webinar was hosted by NHPCO, September 2021.

6. On January 10, 2022, a special webinar was made available to the provider community: Faith, Trust, Hope, and Advocacy: Effectively engaging faith community leaders to address disparities in serious illness care. This free webinar was hosted by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation, and Coalition to Transform Advanced Care. Serving as the webinar, expert facilitator was Marisette Hasan, President & CEO at The Carolinas Center and member of NHPCO’s Diversity Advisory Council. Panelists included Reverend Brandon Brewer, director of patient experience at AccentCare Hospice in Maryland; Donna Gayles, director of client relations-DC and the associate director at Capital Caring Health Center for Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; and Elder Angela Overton, senior advisor to C-TAC Interfaith Working Group.

7. Provided expertise as speaker on March 1, 2022, during the ECHO Series provided by Vidant Health Care, “Equity in Serious Illness Care Delivery”.  During this presentation, an overview of the disparities, health inequities and limited access of Black patients for serious illness care.  In addition, best practice strategies to engage and reduce barriers to care for Black patients were addressed with an interdisciplinary team of health care professionals, including, but not limited to directors, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, and chaplains, etc.

8. Co-Investigator Community Stakeholder, PCORI EQUAL ACP Grant Initiative, led by Dr. Kimberly Johnson.  My expertise is utilized to train community health workers regarding advance directive training for black patients and white patients.

9. Co-Investigator Community Nursing Stakeholder, EQUAL SPACE led by Dr. Kimberly Johnson. My expertise is in developing a spiritual and faith based advance care planning curriculum  and training the health care leaders on how to utilize the curriculum to educate their parishioners.

10. Hospice Care for Heart Failure: Challenges Faced by Hospice Staff in a Predominantly Rural Setting; JOURNAL OF PALLIATIVE MEDICINE Volume 21, Number 1, 2019; Authors: Haider J. Warraich, MD, Donald H. Taylor, Jr, PhD, David J. Casarett, MD, Marisette Hasan, RN, Chetan B. Patel, MD, Arif H. Kamal, MD, Matthew Harker, MPH, MBA, and Robert J. Mentz, MD.

11. Barrett NJ, Hasan M, Bethea K, Johnson KS.  The fierce urgency of now:  Addressing racial and ethnic disparities in serious illness care.  NC Med J 2020; 81:254-56.