Brent Birkhoff

Background

About Brent Birkhoff

With a passion for the grieving, I present myself for consideration. In addition to having my Masters of Thanatology (death, dying, grief, and bereavement) and am a Certified Thanatologist (CT©), I have clocked in over 500 hours of hospice volunteering in five years while working 85 hours a week. In addition, I have had the privilege of being mentored by Mike Bernhagen of Consider the Conversation, a documentary on a taboo subject. During my time with Rainbow Hospice, it maintained the second highest utilization rate in Wisconsin and significantly more than the national average of 44.6%. Nearly 60% of all residents in our county died with hospice involved in their care. Retiring from a 23 year stretch as Chief Operating Officer for a manufacturing company, I became the Bereavement Coordinator for Northern Arizona Hospice in Cottonwood, AZ and the only bereavement coordinator on the ground for 8 cities. Having been taught the skills of Dignity Therapy by the founder, Harvey Chochinov, in Winnipeg, Canada, I started a business called Heart Strings Memories (heartstringsmemories.com) where I capture the life stories of dying individuals. I am currently the Chief Operating Officer of Emergency Medicine Specialists, a $50 million group of emergency room physicians and physician assistants. Most recently, we tripled the emergency room business from 6 sites to 18 sites and grew from 130 clinicians to 275 in 2022. I have held the title of COO for the last 30 years and my 43 year career has centered on mergers and acquisitions. My experience includes managing all facets of business including operations, human resources, marketing, administration, and finance.Today I continue to do grief work with patients daily throughout the country and in my local area. In addition, I teach a Grief Support Group and a Death and Dying Course for Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona via Zoom, a local Grief Support Group, and have been invited to present on a Grief Cruise in October. I have presented at the International Death, Grief & Bereavement Conference twice, been invited to the International Work Group twice, and presented grief topics to numerous groups.I am looking to make a difference in the world one person at a time.