Your physician may order a palliative care consult. Palliative Care is compassionate care provided to you and your family as you face the many challenges that arise in the face of life-defining illness and death.
Palliative Care ensures that you are treated as the unique and special person you are. We strive to see that your wishes are respected and your dignity maintained.
Palliative Care enhances an individual’s overall well-being by addressing physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs. Palliative Care strives to relieve suffering and ensures quality of life for you and your loved ones. Palliative Care team members visit on a regular basis to assess and review your plan of care. Referrals that enhance the quality of care provided to you and your family are made when needed.
The Palliative Care Team at SSM DePaul Health Center is an interdisciplinary team that includes:
- Case manager
- Chaplain
- Healing Touch therapist
- Hospice (when appropriate)
- Physician
- Registered nurse
- Social worker
This team works closely with you, your family and your physician to meet your needs while you are in the hospital and assists you with discharge planning when appropriate. We are also available to assist you and your loved ones after you leave the hospital. Please refer any questions or comments to the Palliative Care Team at 314-344-7564. If an urgent response is needed, please call 314-344-6001 and ask the SSM DePaul operator to page the on-call Palliative Care Team nurse.
How can a Palliative Care Team consultation help?
Many people with life-defining illnesses suffer needlessly from pain, nausea,
shortness of breath and limited mobility, which in turn can cause them to stop doing the things that give them joy and satisfaction. The interdisciplinary Palliative Care team, through assessment and consultation, help your doctor create a plan of care designed to ensure the best possible quality of life for you and your loved ones. If desired, we offer assistance with advance directives for health care, which enables you to put your wishes and values in writing. Our Palliative Care team specializes in compassionate care for patients at the end of life. We work together with you and your family to create a “sacred space” for this challenging, but sacred time of life.