Palliative Care Services

A long-term illness, such as diabetes or COPD or congestive heart failure, doesn't just affect your health. It affects every aspect of your life. MultiCare Palliative Care services provides additional care for you during your treatment, and helping to ease any suffering caused by a life-threatening or life-limiting illness.

You can get palliative care at the same time you get treatments that are meant to cure you.

MultiCare’s Palliative care services are available while you are in the hospital, or at your home - if you are receiving care from MultiCare Home Health.*

How We Help

Our experienced palliative care team can:

• Help you control difficult symptoms like pain, nausea and shortness-of-breath
• Partner with you and your family to make medical decisions and treatment choices
• Provide access to comfort therapies including massage, reiki, music, pet and aromatherapy
• Listen and give support at all stages of illness and injury

Palliative care isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Patients have many different illnesses and injuries. We realize every patient and family has different goals and values, and so we create a different goal-oriented care plan for each patient.

To help guide us in creating the right plan for each you, we’ll ask you and your family questions like:

• What is your understanding of your current condition?
• What is important for you to talk about today?
• What are your hopes and fears?
• Who do you count on for support?
• What else would you like us to know about you?
• What questions do you have for us?
• How can we help with your symptoms?
• How can we help you feel better today?

Note that while although the main goal of hospice care and palliative care is the same — quality of life — they are not the same thing. Hospice care is available for those facing a life-threatening illness who choose to no longer pursue life-prolonging treatment.

Our Palliative Care Team

Our team includes experienced health care providers with special training in palliative care, including doctors who are board-certified in palliative medicine, social workers, nurses and advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs).

Is Palliative Care Right for You?

Your doctor may ask us to help with your medical care while you are in the hospital. If your doctor hasn’t requested our help, and you think you might benefit from palliative care services — either while you are in the hospital or if you are homebound — talk to your doctor and ask for a referral.

Medicare and most insurance carriers cover palliative care consults.

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* Note: Palliative Care services provided for homebound patients do not offer constant, round-the-clock care. However, we can help you access that level of care if that is your need.