Center to Advance Palliative Care

Building a program is one thing and certainly the administrative and organizational aspects are very important. The actual delivery of care at the bedside remains the most important consideration. I am a pediatrician/pain management specialist/peds cardiologist and have taken care of kids in their homes as a hospice consultant. When the child/family can no longer get to the tertiary care facility, it is absolutely essential that he/she be visited by personel that are very familiar/experienced with dealing with children with terminal illness. I have found home visits by myself on a frequent basis for these children absolutely essential---families want to see a doctor at home and I believe that every effort should be made to find a local pediatrician who is willing to become the visiting hospice physician for these patients.