Ep. 34: The Journey into Hospice & Palliative Care

In this episode, we welcome HPNA and HPNF board members Craig Durie, DNP, CRNP, ACHPN®, RNFA and Blake J. Tobias Jr., MHCI, MS, HA-ODL. Moderated by Board President Lynn Reinke, PhD, ANP-BC, FAAN, FPCN, ATSF, the group discusses their respective roles within health care, highlighting their commitment to improving patient outcomes through innovative practices and leadership in their respective professions.

Featuring:

• Craig Durie, DNP, CRNP, ACHPN®, RNFA
• Blake J. Tobias Jr., MHCI, MS, HA-ODL

Craig Durie, DNP, CRNP, ACHPN®, RNFA
Craig is a palliative care nurse practitioner working in an multi hospital inpatient consult-based practice in Eastern Pennsylvania.  He is passionate about education and creating access through program development. He is a book author, educator, and TEDx speaker. During his 28 years of practice, he has worked in critical care, emergency medicine research, as an organ transplant coordinator, adjunct faculty, and colorectal surgical NP before finding his calling in palliative care. During his 13 years of palliative practice, he worked to develop the region's first palliative telemedicine consult service to reach underserved rural patients. Outside of the hospital he has engaged in state and national lobbying relating to diabetes care and full practice authority for nurse practitioners. Craig balances his professional activities with family, a love of gardening, biking, and the outdoors.

 

Blake J. Tobias Jr., MHCI, MS, HA-ODL
Blake Tobias, Jr., MHCI, MS HA-ODL, a first-generation college graduate, is a biologist turned administrator and educator with a proven record of pivotal and innovative leadership. Blake has been a member of the board since 2019 and currently is the Secretary/Treasurer for the HPNA and HPNF boards. He has previously held the positions of HPNF Board Treasurer, HPNF Board President, and HPNA/HPNF Co-Chair of Governance Committee. Blake is Senior Regional Practice Manager for the Penn Medicine Transplant Institute, overseeing a dozen satellite clinics for Kidney, Liver, and Pancreas transplant across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Blake is also an Adjunct Professor of Professional Practice at the Albright College School of Business and Professional Studies, a doctoral student at Saint Joseph's University, and spends his time volunteering for numerous local and national board of directors. His professional experience focuses on health operations and disruptive innovation, with extensive experience managing process improvement, accreditation adherence and regulatory compliance, leading complex projects, budgets, and service integration, as well as managing stakeholder relations in various service lines, including General Hospital Operations, Oncology, and Solid Organ Transplantation. A member of the Saint Joseph's University 30under30 inaugural class, Blake was also one of six students awarded the President and Provost's Honor for Developing New Initiatives in Graduate and Professional Student Life in 2023 as a graduation honor from the University of Pennsylvania.