Palliative care and hospice care can help residents manage the pain and discomfort that come with a terminal illness. Palliative services, integrated with curative treatments, are offered after the onset of a serious illness, often when life expectancy is 12–18 months. These programs are often a stepping stone to hospice care when the patient becomes terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or less and curative treatments are withdrawn. New Jersey’s palliative
and hospice programs provide compassionate, supportive care to ease the suffering of those who are ill and to offer comfort to families. Both are an important part of the healthcare continuum that are often underutilized. The Department and the NJHA chose to debut the electronic POLST recently at one of New Jersey’s hospice providers— Holy Name’s Villa Marie Claire in Saddle River. During a tour of the stand-alone hospice facility, I saw the emphasis that
Palliative and hospice care can help residents manage the pain and discomfort that comes with a terminal illness.
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