Danbury Hospital has announced the expansion of its palliative care program to outpatients with pulmonary diseases.
The service, available at the Western Connecticut Medical Group Pulmonary and Sleep Disorders office in Danbury, makes palliative care available early in the process of treating these chronically ill patients before they require hospitalization, according to a news release.
The hospital said it’s the only one in Connecticut to have received Advanced Certification for Palliative Care from the state’s independent, nonprofit Joint Commission.
Not to be confused with end-of-life hospice care, palliative care helps individuals and families deal with serious illness by treating physical and emotional symptoms and reducing suffering at different stages of the disease. Palliative care teams are trained and skilled at advanced care planning, eliciting patients’ personal goals to help guide the treatment strategy.
