Palliative Care Program

SUMMIT HEALTHCARE AND COMPASSUS LAUNCH INNOVATIVE PALLIATIVE CARE PROGRAM
First Program of Its Kind in Area Expands Access to Quality Palliative Care for Patients

SHOW LOW, Ariz. – Summit Healthcare announced today its partnership with industry leading, community-based hospice provider, Hospice Compassus, to launch Compassus Inpatient Palliative Care. This consultative inpatient palliative care program is unique to the area, providing customized plans of care for Summit Healthcare inpatients with serious illnesses. The Compassus Palliative Care team includes Board-certified palliative care physicians, nurses, social workers and a chaplain. This team will work collaboratively with Summit Healthcare physicians to provide expert pain control and symptom management as needed, and to discuss with patients their goals of care given their condition and what is medically possible. Inpatient palliative care is provided alongside a patient’s ongoing treatment plan.

“While acute care has historically been the prevailing focus for hospitals, today an increasing number of patients require long-term management of complex and often multiple chronic illnesses,” said Carolyn Jacobs, Chief Quality Officer for Summit Healthcare. “Our hospital’s decision to launch a new inpatient palliative care program comes on the heels of several national studies that show combining palliative medicine with standard methods of care results in better management of symptoms and improved quality of life. We are proud to partner with Compassus to better serve the needs of these patients with a whole-person approach to care.”

Palliative care is interdisciplinary care that aims to relieve suffering and improve the quality of life for patients with a serious illness and their families. It is quickly becoming a standard of treatment in patients with acute episodes of pain, uncontrolled symptoms, or serious chronic conditions, including cancer, heart failure, pulmonary disease, neurological diseases, and end-stage renal disease.

Inpatients at Summit Healthcare will be referred to the Compassus Palliative Care program by their physician. The Compassus Inpatient Palliative Care team will provide care in the hospital. If a patient needs palliative care after discharge from the hospital, the Compassus Palliative Care team will continue to provide care in the patient’s home.

The Compassus Palliative Care team will communicate with the patient’s physician regarding the palliative care provided and the patient’s condition.

“I am honored to provide quality palliative care, along with our palliative care team, for patients in the area who need palliative care and are referred by their physician,” said Leon Driss, M.D., Palliative Care Medical Director for the Compassus Palliative Care program. “Palliative medicine will meet an important need in our community. I look forward to working with Summit Healthcare physicians to care for patients who need palliative care in order to provide the highest quality of care that is medically possible given a patient’s condition.”

About Summit Healthcare

Summit Healthcare is a private, not-for-profit organization located in White Mountains of Northeastern Arizona. As a regional medical center with 89 licensed beds, Summit responds to the healthcare needs of more than 90,000 permanent and seasonal residents living in a 3,000 square mile area, providing patients with state-of-the-art healthcare close to home. Summit Healthcare services include Intensive Care, Medical Surgical, Obstetrical, Surgical, Diagnostic Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, Cardiac Catherization, Cardiac Ultrasound, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Chemotherapy, IV Therapy, Cardiopulmonary, Sleep Lab, Therapy Services including Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Diabetic Rehabilitation, Pulmonary Rehabilitation, Home Health Services and more. For more information please visit www.summithealthcare.net , follow us on Facebook, or call 1-855-768-4968

About Hospice Compassus

Hospice Compassus is a nationwide network of community-based hospice programs. Based in Nashville, Tenn., the company opened its first hospice in 1979 and today operates more than 60 programs across the U.S. The mission of Hospice Compassus is to honor life and offer hope to individuals facing terminal illness by supporting them with a common culture focused on three core values: Compassion, Integrity, and Excellence. Hospice Compassus employs more than 1,500 colleagues who provide a range of hospice services and other resources to benefit patients and families. Our primary goals are to provide the highest quality hospice care and service in every community in which we operate and to be the hospice employer of choice. For more information please visit www.hospicecompassus.com, follow the company on Facebook or call (877) 377-1607.

Media Contact:

Angie Kolling
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
Summit Healthcare
(928) 537-6829
akolling@summithealthcare.net

Carol Fite Lynn
Hospice Compassus
Public Relations and Marketing Content Specialist
(615) 480-0335
Carol.Lynn@hospicecom.com

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