Celebrating EOLONM Volunteers
Phyllis Bergman, EOLONM Volunteer Presenter
Phyllis dedicates herself with a deep and unwavering belief in self-agency at every stage of life.
By Christina Palastanga Gardiner
Phyllis began her career as a nurse practitioner in 1976, at a time when the expanded nursing profession was still finding its footing. From the very beginning, she embraced the possibilities it offered — not just to practice medicine, but to travel the world while doing so. Having grown up in a military family, Phyllis was no stranger to new places and cultures, and she carried that ease with her throughout a career that took her to New Zealand, where she helped launch a nurse practitioner program, and onward to Mexico, Kenya, and Bhutan. Much of her work focused on women’s health — teaching women about their own bodies, often in cultures where women’s voices and autonomy were marginalized. It was work that required both clinical skill and deep human sensitivity, and Phyllis brought both in abundance.
Her path toward end-of-life care deepened when she worked as a nurse practitioner in a hospice facility, an experience that brought her into close contact with the realities of dying and the importance of having options. Phyllis moved to New Mexico to be closer to her older sister and in 2018, she joined a small but determined group — including Nancy Abell, Barak Wolff, and Debbie Armstrong — who were working to bring a medical aid in dying law to New Mexico. Phyllis wrote letters, testified before the legislature, and advocated passionately for the law’s passage.
After the law passed, Phyllis stayed involved — and her commitment became even more personal. In 2022, she testified before the New Mexico legislature to share the stories of her younger and older sisters, both of whom died of pancreatic cancer and both of whom chose medical aid in dying. Her younger sister died in California, where the law at the time made the process of using MAID extraordinarily difficult for Phyllis’s younger sister.
Her older sister, by contrast, who was only the second person to use MAID in New Mexico, had an ending marked by ease and peacefulness — a moment that represented everything Phyllis had worked toward in the field of end-of-life options.
She was there to advocate for both of them, as she has been there for so many others, because of her deep and unwavering belief in self-agency at every stage of life. Phyllis’s testimony in front of the legislature was a highlight in Phyllis’s life and for all who were present that day.
Phyllis has also faced her own health challenges in recent years, navigating a lymphoma diagnosis and emerging from it in remission — an experience that has brought the reality of end-of-life issues even closer to home, and only deepened her dedication to this work.
That dedication is at the heart of everything Phyllis brings to EOLONM. Thank you, Phyllis — we are so grateful to have you with us.
Is there an
EOLONM Volunteer
you appreciate?