In 2013, Warren Wheeler, MD was recognized as one of the 30 Most Influential Leaders in Hospice and Palliative Medicine by the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). The visionaries included hospice pioneers such as Cicely Saunders, Elisabeth Kubler Ross and former president Ronald Reagan. Dr. Wheeler was one in the first group of physicians to become certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Dr. Wheeler pioneered the development of two hospice programs in Columbus as founding volunteer medical director. He is the founding president of Ohio Pain Initiative (formerly the Ohio Cancer Pain Initiative). Here he assisted in passage of H.B. 343 in April 1994, for physician’s legal right to assuage the pain and suffering of the terminally ill without being held liable for subsequent death. He then worked with the legislature and regulators in passage of H.B. 187, the chronic intractable pain bill, to make it legal for physicians to prescribe scheduled drugs on a chronic basis to patients with chronic intractable non-malignant pain.
In 1975, Dr. Wheeler completed a two-year fellowship in medical oncology at MD Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston, Texas. For 27 years, he practiced medical oncology in Columbus, Ohio of which 25 years were combined with Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Wheeler voluntarily taught end-of-life care to Ohio State University medical students and pain and palliative medicine to senior medical classes.
Dr. Wheeler is a member of several local and national associations, including the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has published several original papers in medical journals on palliative care, hospice, and cancer pain and lectured nationally to the medical and scientific community. The California Hospice and Palliative Care Association recognized Dr. Wheeler with the Pierre Salmon Award in 2013. This award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to hospice and/or palliative care in California or Nevada; promoted the growth and availability of hospice and/or palliative care; and embodies the core values of hospice.
At present, Dr. Wheeler serves as Interim Chief Medical Officer of Nathan Adelson Hospice, in addition to his role as Senior Medical Director of Palliative Medicine at Nathan Adelson Hospice, and Adjunct Associate Professor Touro University, Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine.
