Dr. Robert A. Milch is one of four doctors named as the first recipients of a new national award for exceptional work in end-of-life care.

Milch, a pioneer in efforts here to improve end-of-life care, is the former medical director of the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care in Cheektowaga.

The Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award is expected to be presented today at the center by officials of the Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute known for its work on end-of-life decision-making. The awards are named for the Hastings Center and the Cunniff-Dixon Foundation, which supports programs to improve care at the end of life.

Milch retired in 2007 after 30 years with Hospice Buffalo, including the last 14 as medical director at an organization that he had helped guide since its founding in 1978. He received the established physician award of $50,000.