The Overlake Hospital Foundation has received a $150,000 grant from the Regence Foundation to implement a hospital-based palliative care program at Overlake Hospital Medical Center. Palliative care is a medical specialty geared toward helping seriously ill patients find relief from the symptoms of their disease.
The Regence grant will help Overlake implement its palliative care program, planned with the help of foundation-provided training from the Palliative Care Leadership Center (PCLC) and a financial grant in 2010. PCLC is a national training and mentoring initiative to help hospitals start and expand high-quality palliative care programs.
“The Regence Foundation’s grant enables us to implement a Palliative Care Consult Service for patients and their families coping with advanced illness and in need of symptom management,” said Cathy Whitaker, vice president of patient care services at Overlake.
She estimated about 200 patients a year would benefit from the service, delivered by physicians, nurses and support staff including social workers, chaplains, pharmacists, care management and physical therapy.