Seattle, Wash. — The Regence Foundation recently awarded a combined $83,700 to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia and Providence Centralia Hospital to expand access to palliative care services in their communities. Providence St. Peter received a $63,000 grant to expand its existing inpatient palliative care program and provide palliative care education to area health providers. Providence Centralia received $20,700 to develop its hospital-based palliative care program.

“Most people associate palliative care with hospice, but palliative care extends well beyond hospice to anyone who needs help managing the pain and symptoms of a serious disease,” said Michael Alexander, Regence Foundation board chair. “Hospitals are a critical resource for patients who need help with symptom management, and ensuring palliative care is available to patients earlier in the disease process is a priority for The Regence Foundation. We’d like to recognize Providence for their work in this important area, and for making this a priority in the community.”

Providence St. Peter Hospital, Olympia, $63,000

Providence St. Peter established its inpatient palliative care service in 2006, and since then patient volume on the service has more than doubled. Outside of the hospital, however, there are not many palliative care options for patients not yet ready for hospice. According to the Center to Advance Palliative Care, Providence St. Peter is the only hospital in Thurston County with a palliative care program.

In an effort to increase awareness about the benefits of palliative care among providers and promote community collaboration, the hospital will use The Regence Foundation grant to develop palliative care seminars and educational materials for area health care providers. Likely topics will include the differences between palliative and hospice care, clarification about payer-reimbursement, and guidelines on effective prescribing for pain management.

Community organizations partnering with Providence St. Peter in this effort include Assured Home Health, Hospice and Home Care; Evergreen Nursing and Rehabilitation Center; Group Health Cooperative Nursing Home Services; Providence Mother Joseph Care Center; and Providence Sound Home Care and Hospice. The community collaboration hopes to improve transitions between organizations when they occur and to develop a culture of acceptance of palliative care services in the community.

Providence Centralia Hospital, $20,700

Currently, there are no hospital-based palliative care programs in Lewis County. The Foundation grant to Providence Centralia is to help the hospital plan and develop its palliative care program palliative care program.

In addition, as part of the grant, staff from Providence Centralia will attend a Palliative Care Leadership Center (PCLC) training program in Portland, Oregon. PCLC is a national training and mentoring initiative to help hospitals start and expand high-quality palliative care programs.

“A key tenet of Providence’s mission is compassion,” said Medrice Coluccio, chief executive of the Providence Southwest Washington service area and Providence St. Peter Hospital. “Ensuring that patients with serious illnesses have access to good symptom management is a priority. Our hope is that these grants will assist us in helping our partners in the local health care community further integrate palliative care into their practices while utilizing Providence’s educational resources.”

The grants to Providence St. Peter and Providence Centralia are part of The Regence Foundation’s Sojourns grantmaking program to promote hospital- and community-based palliative care services. Through Sojourns, The Foundation aims to foster best practices, leadership and collaboration that help people with life-threatening and incurable illness to access quality palliative care in their own community.