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Meet the Staff

Jennifer Patterson, MS  Executive Director

Jennifer comes to Jim & Lisa’s Circle Home with a deep compassion and caring for those near the end of life. Through her experiences with personal loss, hospice volunteerism, and work as an end-of-life doula, she has discovered she feels most at home when serving the community in this way.

Her diverse background includes working in higher education as a counselor and faculty member, grant writing and program development, and fundraising development for a not-for-profit organization. Most recently, Jennifer worked as account manager for Metropolitan Jewish Health System’s Hospice and Palliative Care program in New York City, where her responsibilities included creating and maintaining relationships with hospitals and long-term care facilities, coordinating palliative care consultations, assisting in the admission of patients to the program, among other tasks.

With degrees in Applied Sciences and a Doctorate in Public Health/Specialization in Epidemiology in progress, Jennifer has a broad base of knowledge to draw from in conducting Executive Director duties for CFD. Her studies have focused on Human Development-Human Behavior, Organizational Communication, Psychology, and Medical Laboratory Technology.

Born and raised in Ulster County, she is happy to be in the place she most considers home. She is an active member of the Hudson Valley community, enjoying hobbies such as running, swimming, and hiking—and spending time with her large family: five adult children and four grandchildren!

Jess Bradley, RN, CHPN  Resident Care Coordinator
Jess comes to Jim & Lisa’s Circle Home with over a decade of nursing practice in several areas of our health system, including experience in the medical/surgical hospital setting and critical care. It was this experience that paved the way to finding her career in hospice care. Jess served the communities of Ulster and Dutchess counties as an RN case manager for Hudson Valley Hospice in the home care setting for several years. She then advanced to the role of Director of Patient Services in Ulster county, supporting a team of 20+ hospice RNs in delivering at-home end-of-life care in our community. After three years in nursing management, Jess decided to return to bedside hospice care, where she feels the most at home and is able to provide the most positive impact.
Dedicating time to those near the end of their lives has manifested a deep appreciation for the gifts that life has to offer: family, friends that have become family (human and furry), exploring the natural world, hiking, and snowboarding. Jess’s gratitude for life is expressed through her patience, compassion, non-judgement of others, and persistent empathy for all. Her mission  aligns with Circle Home in her efforts to provide dignity to those most in need, through sensitivity and tenderness.
Lys Swan, MS  Coordinator of Volunteers

Lys is an educator, death doula, and shamanic healer who relocated to the Hudson Valley in 2012 after a 22-year teaching career. Since becoming an area resident, she has worked exclusively in the nonprofit sector in several administrative and educational programming roles—most recently at the Eleanor Roosevelt Center and, prior to that, at the Omega Institute and the Omega Women’s Leadership Center. A hospice volunteer since 2015, Lys is a co-founder and co-facilitator of Death Cafe Dutchess as well as two end-of-life focused Facebook page groups. She brings both her professional expertise and a commitment to compassionate death care to her work as a Circle Home staff member and looks forward to supporting CFD in its ongoing mission to provide comfort and care at the end of life.