Distinguished Alumni Award winner is a national leader in hospice and palliative care

Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has, needless to say, been the top healthcare story in the U.S. and around the world. But while the pandemic has created massive disruptions in healthcare, there are still plenty of researchers, doctors, and nurses working behind the front lines to solve the plethora of non-COVID challenges facing their fields.

At the 2022 Nightingale Awards, the SON is proud to acknowledge and honor the work of one nurse whose contributions to her area of expertise over more than three decades have impacted healthcare policy throughout the country.

Annmarie Switchulis, MSN, BSN is the recipient of this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award. This award is presented to a nurse who is an OU SON graduate and is making meaningful contributions to the field of nursing as well as demonstrating the high standards of clinical competence and leadership characteristics emphasized at Oakland University.

Switchulis, SON ’92, moved from an early career as an oncology nurse clinician to become a nationally-recognized leader in palliative and hospice care.

Switchulis’s impact in her field is significant and far-reaching. She is the Chief Operating Officer of AccentCare Hospice and currently oversees 60 hospice programs in 23 states across the country.  Switchulis has over 30 years of nursing experience, including 17 years as the President and COO of Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care, which merged with AccentCare in late 2020.

Outside her day-to-day work managing hospice programs at the national level, Switchulis is also an advocate for the value of high-quality hospice care. In recent years, she has been active in Washington, D.C., where she has lobbied for preserving and improving the Medicare Hospice Benefit.

Remarking on Switchulis’ award, her coworkers described her as an inspiring presence in the field; the love and passion she displays while providing exceptional hospice care pushes others to become the best versions of themselves, too.

In her award acceptance speech, Switchulis attributed the many accolades and successes she’s had in her long career to the relationships with her colleagues and patients she has been able to help along the way.

 “This award and my career are proof that you can indeed be rewarded for sticking to your core values and never losing sight of your purpose,” she said. “At the end of the day, at the end of a career, we realize that people are what make the difference, one relationship at a time.”