VCU news

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley

RICHMOND, Va. – The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, announced today that the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center palliative care program has been awarded a $750,000 grant over three years to help increase the availability of palliative care in the United States.

The VCU Massey Cancer Center palliative care program will teach other cancer centers the optimal way to provide treatment aimed at relieving pain and symptoms as part of state-of-the-art cancer care.  The Massey Cancer Center is one of six institutions with exemplary palliative care programs chosen to be a Palliative Care Leadership Center.  Of the six, Massey is the only one located on the East Coast and the only cancer center.

“Massey’s palliative care program is clearly recognized as one of the national leaders in pain and symptom control,” said Dr. Thomas Smith, medical director of the Massey-VCU Health System’s Thomas Palliative Care Unit.  “We now have the opportunity to teach our methods to more than 100 teams from other cancer centers over the next three years.”

Palliative care is a rapidly growing field, specializing in treating the pain and suffering of seriously ill patients in order to maximize quality of life.  Research shows that a majority of patients with cancer and other serious illnesses suffer pain and discomfort despite the fact that their symptoms can be treated safely and effectively. 

The Center to Advance Palliative Care reports that more than 800 of 5,000 hospitals in the United States now have palliative care programs.  “The Palliative Care Leadership Centers initiative will help millions of patients and families who suffer from the pain and debilitating symptoms of serious, chronic illness,” said Dr. Diane E. Meier, Director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care.

The VCU Massey Cancer Center palliative care program began in 2000 as a joint project of the Thomas Hospice Foundation and the VCU Health System to establish the Thomas Palliative Care Unit. The program is acknowledged as a pioneer in palliative care, treating about 500 patients a year, conducting groundbreaking research and setting new standards of care in pain management and symptom control.  The palliative care program also has proven to be cost efficient, reducing the cost of care while providing better symptom control.

The six Palliative Care Leadership Centers will receive a total $4.5 million in grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  They were chosen after a rigorous yearlong selection process that evaluated clinical and program excellence, leadership and educational experience.  Besides the VCU Massey Cancer Center program, the centers include:

·         Fairview Foundation (Fairview Health Services), Minneapolis, Minn.

·         Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis.

·         Mount Carmel Health System, Columbus, Ohio

·         Palliative Care Center of the Bluegrass, Lexington, Ky.

·         University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif. 

Each center will provide a site-visitor program for professionals from other healthcare institutions intending to start palliative care programs.  The centers will offer hands-on intensive training focused on the financial and operational aspects of building a program.

More information about palliative care and the Center to Advance Palliative Care is available at www.capc.org.