End of Life Washington Contractors
Jess Kaan, DO
Medical Director
Jess is from Salida, a small town in the mountains of Colorado, and received her undergraduate degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. She attended Des Moines University for her Doctor of Osteopathy education, as well as a Master in Public Health degree. She trained at Providence Portland for her Internal Medicine training and then went to Puerto Rico as a National Health Service Corps Scholar for 4 years. In 2016 she returned to the Pacific NW and joined the Vancouver Clinic as an Internal Medicine Hospitalist. She served as co-chair of that department from 2019-2022.
She has always been strongly supportive of patients’ choices, including at the end of life. She became aware of how few doctors in SW Washington were willing to prescribe MAID, and so she became involved with MAID work in late 2018. She is a volunteer MAID provider, and in August 2022 she became part time Medical Director for EOLWA. She also continues to work clinically as a Hospitalist in SW Washington.
Apart from her interest in end of life issues, Jess also has interest in barriers to the access of medical care, and new forms of care delivery.
Outside of medicine, Jess loves being outside in many ways, including hiking, camping, paddle boarding, skiing, and snowboarding.
Rebe Brown, MSW
Client Services Contractor
Rebe Brown is a Midwest transplant who has lived in Seattle for over a decade. She earned her MSW from Indiana University.
Rebe has always been passionate about end-of-life care and believes that everyone should have the tools, resources, and freedom to make informed decisions about their health care. She likes to have the sun on her face and gets joy from picking up and putting down numerous hobbies.
Sally Thomae, MSW
Aftercare Support
Sally Thomae is originally from Wisconsin where she earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UW-Milwaukee. Prior to graduate school she worked as a lab assistant, a medical assistant, a health educator, and a pharmaceutical sales rep. After volunteering with hospice and with the Milwaukee AIDS Project she earned her MSW specifically with intent to serve people facing end-of-life issues. Sally worked with Hospice in both Wisconsin and California and spent a year with Golden State Organ Donor Services in Sacramento revamping their donor family aftercare program. In 2009 she completed a course of study at the Center for Loss in Fort Collins, Colorado, earning a Certificate in Death Studies.
Since moving to Seattle in 2009 Sally dove headfirst into a midlife crisis and explored several other areas including animal welfare, a short, ill-fated partnership in a wine shop, and a return to school to study skin care. She continues to volunteer with a local greyhound rescue. Sally is thrilled to be with EOLWA doing the work that speaks to her heart and soul – helping people who seek compassionate end-of-life care.
Nancy Sapiro
Lobbyist
Nancy Sapiro is a lawyer and contract lobbyist. She has represented clients in Olympia since 2012, and has worked with End of Life Washington since 2016. She specializes in health care, civil rights, economic and social justice, domestic violence, promoting policies that support working families, and civic engagement. Prior to this, she worked as a staff attorney for a women’s legal rights organization that worked to advance the law through litigation, legislative advocacy and legal rights education strategies. She also worked for over 7 years as a public defender representing individuals charged with crimes as well as indigent parents and children involved in the juvenile justice/child welfare system. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 2008 she was honored by the King County Washington Women Lawyers and given the Friend of the Judiciary Award for her work championing women’s rights to comprehensive health information and care. She is also a principal in a family owned commercial real estate business that has been in existence for over 70 years, based in Green Bay WI.
She is passionate about the work of End of Life WA based on her deeply rooted belief in autonomy around health care decision-making, particularly at the beginning and end stages of life.