Robert Weissinger, D.O.’89, has been named regional medical director for VITAS® Healthcare, the nation’s leading provider of end-of-life care. He leads a multidisciplinary team serving the Northern Florida and Atlanta regions, giving patients, caregivers and families the clinical expertise, compassion and support they need to maximize comfort and preserve dignity throughout end-of-life care.
Board-certified in hospice and palliative medicine, Weissinger oversees the medical care and treatment of VITAS patients in their homes, nursing homes, assisted living communities and inpatient units. He also oversees leadership responsibilities associated with staff medical directors, physicians and advanced registered nurse practitioners in the VITAS programs throughout Brevard County, Lake and Sumter counties, Mid-State, Orlando, Pensacola, Jacksonville and Volusia County in Florida and the Atlanta program in Georgia.
An Iowa native, Weissinger spent more than 35 years as a primary care physician, medical director, medical examiner, research director and chief medical officer at health clinics, physician groups, hospitals and hospice agencies throughout Iowa. For more than two decades, he served in the Iowa National Guard, retiring from the 132nd Fighter Wing as a lieutenant colonel.
His academic interests span advanced and complex disease management, inpatient end-of-life care, end-of-life care planning and medical education regarding the importance of hospice and palliative medicine. Weissinger remains an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of North Dakota, adjunct professor of hospice and palliative medicine at the University of Iowa, and adjunct assistant professor of hospice and palliative medicine at DMU.
Established in 1978, VITAS® Healthcare is a pioneer and leader in the American hospice movement. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS operates 45 hospice programs in 14 states and employs 11,914 professionals. At the conclusion of the second quarter of 2018, VITAS reported an average daily census of 17,739.
