Care New England creating palliative care site at W&I

PROVIDENCE – Care New England Health System is creating its first palliative care site at the program in women’s oncology at Women & Infants Hospital.
This clinic is a natural extension of the inpatient and home-based palliative care programs CNE already offers, a news release from Care New England said.
In addition to an inpatient consult service at all CNE hospitals, Care New England has offered home-based palliative care through the VNA of CNE.
Through the new outpatient site, Care New England is seeking to reach patients who would benefit from palliative care in all possible settings, and hoping to help more patients engage their physicians in conversations about what matters as they face advanced illness.
“Palliative care is a specialized medical care for people with serious illness and focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of a serious illness, whatever the diagnosis,” Dr. Kate M. Lally, palliative care program director, said in a statement. “The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.”
Starting this month, Lally, along with a specialized palliative care team, will begin working with women seeking care for gynecologic or breast cancers through the program in women’s oncology. That includes women with stage four cancers, recurrent or progressive disease, unmanaged pain, malignant bowel obstruction and frequent hospital admissions for symptom management.

“People do not need to be dying to need help living with their symptoms,” Dr. Cornelius “Skip” Granai III, director of the program in women’s oncology, said. “This is a tremendous step in helping us provide what our patients and their families need, which is physical and psychological relief from cancer.”
The palliative care team – featuring physicians, a nurse practitioner, a medical assistant, social workers, case managers and others as needed – will meet with patients referred by doctors in the program in women’s oncology and Breast Health Center in sessions scheduled twice a month to start.
“Based on the patient’s clinical criteria and needs, we may see her once or more than that. This is an extra layer of support for them,” Lally said.
The Program in Women’s Oncology and Breast Health Center physicians are accepting new patients. For information, call 453-7520.

No posts to display