Laura Patel

After serving as Chief Medical Officer of Transitions LifeCare for nine years, in 2022 Laura Patel was unanimously elected to her role as CEO. With her hands-on approach to leadership, Dr. Patel furthers the mission, vision and strategic direction of the organization during a time of unprecedented challenge in the healthcare economy. Dr. Patel is a thought leader and collaborator at the state and national level, working to advance models of care for those with serious illness.

To address the needs of our most vulnerable population, she helped launch Transitions Kids—a home-based pediatric hospice and palliative care program. Embracing the Mission and elevating wrap-around care, Dr. Patel created a partnership for the hospital-based palliative care program and formed Transitions Medical Partners—a primary care medical practice.  In 2015, Dr. Patel’s educational outreach initiative resulted in a partnership between Transitions LifeCare and the University of North Carolina creating an innovative ACGME-accredited fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine. Dr. Patel values Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and works to improve hospice and palliative care access to all North Carolinians. 



Born and raised in the Midwest, she earned her medical degree from the University of Minnesota and completed her residency in internal medicine followed by a fellowship in geriatric medicine at the University of North Carolina. Before she found her way back to the Triangle, she experienced a universal healthcare system and hospice in New Zealand, and worked for several years in a community nonprofit geriatric, hospice, and palliative care group in Baltimore.

Dr. Patel is board certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine, and is a certified Hospice Medical Director. In 2017, she was named AHHC’s “Physician of the Year” and one of TBJ’s “40 Under 40.” In 2019, she was named as one of AAHPM’s Emerging Leaders.  Dr. Patel is a fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She served on the North Carolina IOM Taskforce on Serious Illness and is a co-chair for the clinical practice workgroup of the NC Serious Illness Coalition (NCSI).