Dr. Charles Nolan is a native of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Colorado, Boulder and was awarded Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree with Honors from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colorado. After completing a fellowship training in Nephrology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, Dr. Nolan served with honor and distinction for 14 years in the United States Air Force attaining the rank of Lt. Colonel.

After the Air Force, Dr. Nolan joined the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio where he was Medical Director of the Kidney Transplant for 18 years attaining the academic rank of Professor of Medicine and Surgery. Over the 2 decades of caring for critically ill patients with kidney, liver or lung failure, he developed a keen interest in the care of patients at the end-of-life and developed a novel one-of-a-kind Transplant Palliative Care program which became an integral part of the solid organ transplant program at University Hospital San Antonio. He also served as the Medical Director of Palliative Care services for 4 years at University Hospital.

In 2014, Dr. Nolan decided to retire from the practice of transplant medicine to pursue his dream of developing a first-class comprehensive palliative care program at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center. Dr. Nolan has since helped develop a state-of-the-art comprehensive outpatient and inpatient palliative care program at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center. The palliative care program at GRMC is called the LIFE Care Program which is an interdisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, chaplains and social workers which provide ongoing support to patients and families dealing with life-threatening illness. This type of palliative care support to patients and families is designed to be delivered concurrent with the ongoing treatments of patients dealing with cancer, dementia, heart, lung or kidney disease. The centerpiece of the LIFE Care service is a comprehensive Advance Care Planning program called “Making Sure Your Voice is Heard”, through which patients and their families are provided the opportunity to work with certified Advance Care Planning Facilitators who assist the patient in clarifying their goals, values and beliefs and aligning these goals with their preferences for life-sustaining medical treatments in the future. The LIFE Care program at GRMC has gained statewide and national recognition for their innovative Advance Care Planning program.