UVA named one of 11 U.S. Palliative Care Leadership Centers

The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) has named University of Virginia Health System as one of 11 Palliative Care Leadership Centers™ in the U.S.

According to CAPC’s website, leadership centers are selected for “their clinical excellence, outstanding leadership, reputation and experience,” including the use of evidence-based best practices for palliative care. Palliative care helps patients cope with pain and other symptoms from a range of serious diseases or treatments for those diseases.

Palliative Care Leadership Centers such as UVA provide training and a yearlong mentoring program to help palliative care programs across the country provide high-quality care for their patients.

“CAPC is a nationally recognized organization supporting excellence and growth in palliative care,” said Joshua Barclay, MD, a UVA palliative care specialist. “To be recognized as a leader in this field by CAPC is an incredible honor for us at UVA.”

 

Providing Support to Manage Pain, Symptoms

UVA’s palliative care team helps patients with severe, life-limiting illnesses improve or sustain their quality of life.

UVA’s palliative care providers include doctors, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, music therapists, chaplains, massage therapists and psychologists. The team helps patients better manage symptoms ranging from nausea and nerve damage to anxiety and depression while patients are in the hospital as well as at UVA’s outpatient palliative care clinic.

“We have steadily expanded our services with support from leadership at the UVA Medical Center, School of Medicine and School of Nursing,” Barclay said. “This has resulted in family-centered care which is effectively integrated into the comprehensive care provided at UVA.”

 

About CAPC

CAPC is a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality palliative care services for people facing serious illness. As the leading resource for palliative care development and growth, CAPC provides healthcare professionals with training, tools and technical assistance necessary to start and sustain successfully palliative care programs in hospitals and other health care settings. It is part of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City. Visit www.capc.org.