Connecticut gets high marks for its palliative care in a new study released by the Journal of Palliative Medicine. Its “A” grade ranks it in the top-third of states with 84 percent of hospitals offering the care.
Palliative care is a medical specialty that aims for maximum quality of life while patients are being treated for serious illness. Among the techniques are relief of pain, related symptoms, and the stress that patients and their families go through. Relatively new in the medical world, it is delivered concurrently with other traditional treatments.
Connecticut received the “A” grade because more than 60 percent of hospitals offer palliative care. By contrast, states like Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming received a “D” grade for having less than 40 percent of their hospitals offering palliative care. The Southern U.S. is the lowest region nationally.
There’s a sharp divide between for-profit and nonprofit hospitals when it comes to palliative care. The study shows 23 percent of for-profit hospitals have palliative care, while not-for-profit hospitals are seven times more likely to have it.
The larger a hospital is the more likely it is to have palliative care. It is offered at 90 percent of hospitals with more than 300 patient beds. All of Connecticut’s top 10 hospitals offer palliative care, according to the website GetPalliativeCare.org.
