Palliative Care
Care During Serious Illness
Enloe Health's Supportive and Palliative Care service is a natural example of our mission to elevate the health of our communities.
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It provides relief from the symptoms, pain and stress, whatever the diagnosis.
Inpatient Care
Enloe’s Inpatient Palliative Care Service is a specialty consult offered to patients admitted to Enloe Health Medical Center. A team member will meet you in the hospital room to help you:
- Establish personal goals
- Help you understand your diagnosis and treatment options
- Review your values and priorities
- Help control your symptoms
- Provide emotional and spiritual support
- Start discussions about what you want if your health declines
Outpatient Care
Our Outpatient Palliative Care Service is for people who are homebound – unable to leave their home without great difficulty. A provider will visit you about once a month to:
- Take on the primary care role for you
- Manage pain, nausea, constipation, shortness of breath, etc.
- Make referrals as needed for skilled nursing, physical therapy, home health aide, medical equipment, etc.
- Provide counseling and spiritual support to you and your loved ones
- Provide education and advanced care planning
- Help you manage the overwhelming decisions
Your needs will determine how frequently you receive visits. This is not an emergency service, but your provider may arrange to see you more often if a problem arises. The goal is to help keep you stable and avoid trips to the hospital.
*Enloe Health Outpatient Palliative Care is not accepting new patients.
For Any Age, At Any Stage
This type of care is appropriate for any age, at any stage of the severe illness, and can be provided together with curative treatment. Involving our palliative care team does not mean you have to stop treatment. Palliative care is not only for end-of-life or terminal illnesses.
At Enloe Health, palliative care is provided by an interdisciplinary team, including physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, a chaplain and nurses to address your needs as a whole.
The goal is to relieve suffering and provide an extra layer of support. Services are tailored to you and your family. When should you ask about palliative care? When:
- You have a new, life-changing diagnosis.
- The burden of illness has become overwhelming for you or your family.
- You can’t get to the doctor due to physical or mental reasons.
- You have frequent hospitalizations.
- You are frail and losing weight.
Some of the diseases that benefit from palliative care are cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, COVID-19, Parkinson’s disease, kidney disease, HIV/AIDS, among many others.
A Note about Referrals
Enloe Health Outpatient Palliative Care is not accepting new patients.
