Partnering to Establish Hospital Palliative Care Programs

I was recently asked to serve on a committee looking at establishing a palliative care program at my primary hospital. Although we have hospice care affiliated with our health system, the notion of palliative care is a concept that has gained growing interest from several key faculty members, mostly oncologists. While there have been several attempts to develop a specific pain program, pain management is currently left to the individual medical teams caring for patients, with consultation available from several members of the Anesthesia or Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation departments as...