Center to Advance Palliative Care

We tried using "Palliative Care" but had too many patients doing online searches for the term and getting mostly hospice info in return for their searches. Of course, hospice is an appropriate part of palliative care services but depending on the patient and the situation that can be alarming and very premature to some patients and families. We call our service "NorthBay Bridges" which we describe as "a Supportive Care Service of NorthBay HealthCare." (Now I realize the name "Bridges" is probably used a lot across the country and would probably re-do the name if we hadn't been running for a while already.) Some programs use "Symptom Management Team" as another possibility. On the hospital floor with the hospital staff we are generally referred to as the palliative care team but I would really rather be thought of as the " supportive care team" due to the misunderstanding by patients and families when they hear "palliative". When I describe our service to patients and/or families I usually explain that we help manage difficult symptoms, assist in communication and understanding for the family, patient (and medical providers!) and try to help in complex medical situations.

Your name and your description is critical because it will follow with you everyday and be hard to redirect if it leads people in the wrong direction from the start.