Palliative Medicine Program
Palliative Care Service at Montefiore
Under the Department of Family and Social Medicine the inpatient Palliative Care Program has 4 interdisciplinary consultation teams at three campuses: Moses, Weiler, Wakefield and one interdisciplinary team at the Inpatient Palliative Care Unit at Moses campus. The consultation teams are staffed by BE/BC attending physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, and a chaplain, and an art therapist.
The Palliative Care and Hospice Unit has 15 bed capacity and patient care provided by Palliative Care specialists who are committed to provide high quality and compassionate care for patients facing serious illness.
What is Palliative Medicine?
Palliative Medicine is a field of medicine, and its goal is to relieve physical, emotional and spiritual suffering while preserving the psychosocial and physical functioning of the patients and their families to the fullest extent possible, and according to the individual patient’s goals and aspirations.
Who needs Palliative Care?
Palliative Care can be provided at any stage of the disease, from diagnosis through survivorship or the end of life.
It is appropriate for those with cancer and non-cancer diagnoses. Excellent knowledge of pain and non-pain symptom management, initiating conversations regarding patient’s understanding of disease trajectory, their values and beliefs, and their goals and wishes for end of life care are the key components of palliative care approach. These goals of care and advance care planning discussions should happen early rather than at the end of life, and should be ongoing as a person’s needs and preferences may change.
Where is Palliative Care provided?
Palliative Care may be provided at all healthcare settings including hospitals, primary care clinics, homes, and long-term care facilities, hospice facilities.
Our Goals:
- Educate and train health professionals to provide generalist level or specialist level palliative care across the continuum,
- Embed a patient and family-centered approach in palliative care
- Promote palliative care as appropriate across the cancer journey as a seamless experience
- Develop evidence-based pathways for palliative care
- Provide support to patients and their caregivers in navigating transitions in health care system
- Ensure equitable access to palliative care for all, including vulnerable and underserved populations in our communities
- Ensure that every terminally ill patient has access to effective pain and symptom management
- Increase the health system's capacity to deliver palliative care by collaborating with clinicians and administrators
