Hospice

Meet our staff

Bruce Birnberg,LCSW
Executive Director
Bruce Birnberg recently joined Stein Hospice as Executive Director. He served for 17 years as Associate Director at JFK Family Medicine Residency Program in Edison, New Jersey. In that faculty position, he taught Family Medicine resident physicians a sophisticated psychosocial curriculum, which included end-of-life issues. He has published on this and other subjects in professional journals. His faculty appointment was through UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School as Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. 
 
Bruce is a graduate of the City University of New York. He received a bachelor of science degree in psychology from Brooklyn College and a master of social work degree from Hunter College School of Social Work. 
 

Bruce is active in Jewish communal pursuits and is thrilled to be providing services to the local communities. 

 

 
 
Sharon Criscione RN, BSN, CHPC
Clinical Director

Sharon joined Stein Hospice in 2005 as an on-call nurse, responding to the needs of our patients on evenings and weekends, and was promoted to Clinical Director in March, 2009.  She graduated from Beth Israel School of Nursing in 1984 and received her Bachelor's degree in nursing from Thomas Edison University.  Sharon spent 10 years working in critical care where she earned certification as a critical care nurse.  She has worked as a home care and hospice nurse for the past 15 years and is certified in hospice and palliative care.

 

Paula Krauser

Paula S. Krauser, MD, MA
Medical Director

An early proponent of the hospice movement in New Jersey, Dr. Krauser has been the Medical Director of the Martin and Edith Stein Hospice since its inception. She is a board certified family physician with added qualification in geriatrics and was among the first physicians in the country to become board certified in hospice and palliative care by the American Board of Medical Specialties. She earned a bachelor's degree from Douglass College and later entered the graduate program in psychology at Brandeis University under fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health. After obtaining her medical degree from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, she completed her residency at Overlook Hospital - Columbia College of Physician and Surgeons. Dr. Krauser worked with the New Jersey State Legislature as a Health Policy Fellow. Her special interests are women's health, integrative medicine, and end-of-life care.

 

 

Rabbi Bryan Kinzbrunner
Campus Chaplain

Rabbi Bryan Kinzbrunner comes to the Wilf Campus after over four years working as a hospice chaplain and bereavement services manager with VITAS Hospice. He has lectured throughout New Jersey at nursing homes and adult facilities on Jewish end-of-life care issues, ranging from spiritual aspects of caring for Jewish families to the intricate medical ethic issues often faced. Rabbi Bryan Kinzbrunner has also lectured about community advocacy for Hospice and end-of-life care and challenges faced. He attends Ahavas Achim, where he has had opportunity to teach many classes on Jewish Thought and Philosophy. Rabbi Bryan Kinzbrunner was ordained by Yeshiva University, where he also received his Bachelors in History and Masters in Jewish Studies. He is a member of the National Association for Jewish Chaplains and has lectured on issues of end of life care at their yearly conferences. Rabbi Bryan Kinzbrunner resides in Highland Park, NJ with his wife Shira and 6 month old son Zevi.  

Fran Starr

Fran Starr, LCSW
Medical Social Worker

Prior to joining The Stein Hospice team, Fran was a Jewish communal social worker for 10 years. She acted as Director of Older Adult Services for the Jewish Family and Vocational Services of Northern Middlesex county. Fran received her Masters in Social Work from Adelphi University and is a licensed clinical social worker. She has a strong interest in spirituality and is active in the Jewish community. 

Sara Culang 
Sara Culang
Volunteer Coordinator/Community Relations
Sara joined The Martin and Edith Stein Hospice in 2005 as volunteer coordinator, later adding community outreach to her responsibilities in 2007. She is a Highland Park Temple-CAE Sisterhood Board Member. Prior to her work in hospice, Sara was a sales director for a book publishing company in New York City and worked in book sales for 15 years.