F O R R E L E A S E: Immediate (MAY 4, 2011)
C O N T A C T: Mike Noble
Marketing and Communications
New Training Program To Help Rural Providers
Meet Rising Demand for Palliative Care Services
Gift Helps Fletcher Allen Experts Guide Clinicians in Vermont and New York
BURLINGTON, VT – Fletcher Allen Health Care announced today it has established the Rural Palliative Care Network, a training program for providers at community hospitals seeking the specialized skills they need to deliver comprehensive palliative care to their patients. Creation of the Network was made possible through the generosity of Vermont philanthropists Bob and Holly Miller.
The program expands the role Fletcher Allen’s interdisciplinary palliative care team members have played since 2007 as on-call consultants to providers in Vermont and northern New York.
Resources available through the Network include:
• A 24/7 hotline answered by Fletcher Allen physicians and palliative care specialists
• Telemedicine consultations for patients with life-threatening conditions who are being transferred to Fletcher Allen’s Medical Intensive Care Unit.
• A mentorship program in which community providers can spend a day or more with Fletcher Allen’s palliative care specialists.
• Weekly televised case conferences
• Visits by members of the palliative care team to participating hospitals.
“Increasing the number of clinicians who can provide excellent palliative care is a critical step in improving the quality of health care in our region,” said Allan Ramsay, M.D. director of Fletcher Allen’s Palliative Care Service. “The Network program will allow us to fully support our colleagues facing the special challenges of delivering this type of care.”
“This program is an important resource for our patients because it allows us to provide them with better care and be more thorough in addressing their level of comfort,” said William Porter, M.D. of Partners in Palliative and Home Care, a practice based at Porter Hospital in Middlebury. “Fletcher Allen’s specialists have always been readily available and supportive, and I find having access to their expertise to be invaluable,” he continued.
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Dr. Marie-Caroline Piche, Palliative Care Program Director at Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, New York has turned to the palliative care team for guidance since 2007. “Having the support of a larger program is so beneficial. I have learned a great deal about pain management and communicating with families through my contact with Fletcher Allen’s team, and I feel like I can do what I do for my patients because I know they are there,” Piche said.
Palliative care, sometimes referred to as comfort care, focuses on pain control, symptom management, advanced care planning and improving the quality of life for patients undergoing curative treatments and for those receiving end of life care. The number of palliative care teams at hospitals in the U.S. more than doubled in the past decade to meet rising patient demand.
“No matter where you live, you deserve relief, information, and choices about your medical care. That’s why it’s important that Fletcher Allen’s Rural Palliative Care Network extends the expertise of a large academic medical center to doctors, nurses, and hospitals in small towns and rural communities,” said Diane E. Meier, M.D. Director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY and a national leader on the issue.
“I’ve been watching the palliative care program grow at Fletcher Allen,” said Holly Miller. “The idea of the Rural Palliative Care Network really appealed to Bob and me. Nothing could make us happier than knowing that our team at Fletcher Allen is sharing resources with physicians in Vermont and northern New York that will help their patients live as well as they can, as long as they can.”
“We are very grateful to the Millers for making this effort possible. The impact of their generosity will be felt by people throughout our region for many years to come,” said Ramsay.
For More Information on Palliative Care
Visit www.FletcherAllen.org/palliative for details on Fletcher Allen’s Palliative Care Service. You can also access video and audio interviews with Dr. Ramsay that provide an overview of palliative care and its role in modern healthcare and a blog article that answers common questions about palliative care.
A Conversation with Holly Miller
Holly Miller discusses her gift in support of Fletcher Allen’s Rural Palliative Care Network.
You and your husband, Bob Miller, are both Vermonters. How have your backgrounds shaped your life choices?
A: I think that, for all of us, the early years last forever. I had wonderful parents, who taught us great values – my father worked hard as a butcher for Mackenzie’s. But there was also an undercurrent of desperation, because there wasn’t enough income to cover even the basics – like the rent. My background taught me many things – but most importantly, good, solid values, and a strong work ethic.
Q: Was there a defining moment in your life that led to your interest in hospice and palliative care?
A: Twenty-seven years ago, my father, who was dying of colon cancer, shared with us that he wanted to die at home. At the time, I didn’t know anything about hospice care. I asked him, “Dad, how are we going to do this?” His response was “I’ll show you.”
My parents wanted to spend their last summer together at the family camp where they had spent their honeymoon. In those last weeks of my father’s life, he was more present than I had ever seen him. He began to share his emotional side, and it was a tremendously powerful, intimate time for our whole family. For me, the defining moment – or series of moments – was witnessing how he accepted his dying and how much he trusted that we could care for him. Two years later, I started hospice training.
Q: Were these experiences a factor in your decision to make a gift to Fletcher Allen’s Palliative Care Program?
A: I’ve been watching the palliative care program grow at Fletcher Allen. The idea of the Rural Palliative Care Network really appealed to Bob and me. Nothing could make us happier than knowing that our team at Fletcher Allen is sharing resources with physicians in Vermont and northern New York that will help their patients live as well as they can, as long as they can.
Q: You and your husband have demonstrated a tremendous spirit of philanthropy over the years in a number of areas. Can you talk about why you are committed to Fletcher Allen?
A: I know Fletcher Allen is an academic medical center and a tertiary care center . . . but, to me, it’s our community hospital. It’s part of our neighborhood. My friends and family – as well as Bob and I – have all had major life experiences here. We believe that it’s important to support our community hospital, and to put our names out there, so that we may inspire others to give.
Q: What would you say is the most important thing for health care providers to think about when a patient is nearing the end of life?
A: Everyone deserves a good death. Everyone deserves to able to be their authentic selves as they are going through the end-of-life experience, to be pain-free, and to know that they are loved and cared for.
Q: And for all of us, what would you suggest is important as we think about our own mortality?
A: We all have to find a way to come to terms with our own mortality. My own philosophy is, prepare for the worst, let your family and friends know your wishes – and live every day to the absolute fullest. Be present, every single day.
About Fletcher Allen
Fletcher Allen Health Care, together with our partners at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, is Vermont’s academic medical center. Our mission is to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve by integrating patient care, education and research in a caring environment. Fletcher Allen serves as a regional referral center — providing advanced care to approximately one million people in Vermont and northern New York — and as a community hospital for approximately 150,000 residents in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties. For more information about Fletcher Allen, find us online at http://www.fletcherallen.org or on our Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog sites at www.fletcherallen.org/socialmedia.
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