PCLC at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Medical Center

  1. Location
    Birmingham, AL
  2. Leader
  3. Faculty
    • Jennifer Hicks
      MSHA, MBA, Administrative Director, UAB Center for Palliative Care
    • Rodney Tucker
      MD, MMM, Director, UAB Center for Palliative Care
  4. Photo: Rodney Tucker
photo

Train with this PCLC

UAB Medical Center At-A-Glance

The UAB Center for Palliative and Supportive Care provides clinical services to patients with serious illness at several facilities: the UAB Hospital, the Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center, and Children’s of Alabama Hospital. UAB Hospital is the largest comprehensive medical facility in Alabama and one of the largest academic medical centers in the country. The Birmingham VA Medical Center is a 144-bed acute care facility providing tertiary medical and surgical care to veterans of Alabama and surrounding states. Located adjacent to the UAB Hospital campus, Children’s of Alabama is the third largest pediatric medical facility in the U.S. UAB palliative and supportive care services include inpatient consultations at all three locations—including palliative care units at UAB and the VA—and community-based palliative care services via a Supportive Care and Survivorship Clinic and a telehealth research program.

Key benefits of training with UAB also include access to:

  • All curriculum areas, including PCLC Pediatrics
  • Strategies for gaining C-suite support and creating positive culture change
  • Guidance in creating effective program marketing strategies starting with an “elevator pitch”
  • Strategies for gaining community support for palliative care programs via development activities, and by engaging a community advisory board
  • Seasoned experts from three campuses: Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center, UAB Hospital, and Children’s of Alabama Hospital
  • Guidance into attaining strong physician buy-in, resulting in high volumes of referrals at all clinical sites
  • An ambulatory clinical program with over fifteen years of patient care experience
  • Insight into working with an active telehealth research program, and assistance developing a telehealth/teleconsult clinical program
  • Robust interdisciplinary teams including doctors, nurses, advanced practice providers, physical therapists, massage therapists, counselors, psychologists, nutritionists, chaplains, social workers, and others
  • An extensive collaborative practice with nursing staff and advanced practice practitioners, including an academic palliative care nursing subspecialty program for nurse practitioners, DNP, and PhD students

Questions?

For questions about UAB, including available training dates, submit an inquiry.

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Marie Bakitas
DNSc, NP-C, FAAN,, Associate Director, UAB Center for Palliative Care

Marie Bakitas, DNSc, NP-C, FAAN is Associate Director, UAB Center for Palliative Care and Professor in the UAB School of Nursing. Dr. Bakitas' scholarly work has focused on conducting pain and symptom management and palliative care interventions to improve the quality of life and care for those with serious illness, and their families. Dr. Bakitas has participated in 27 funded research grants and served as principal investigator of 12. In 1998, Dr. Bakitas was a co-investigator and project director of a Robert Wood Johnson-funded demonstration project, called Project ENABLE, which led to the creation of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Palliative Care Consultation Service and an NIH-NCI-funded randomized clinical trial testing the introduction of a palliative care intervention at the time of a new diagnosis of advanced cancer.

Dr. Bakitas is the Marie L. O'Koren Endowed Chair and Professor at the UAB School of Nursing and holds a secondary faculty appointment in the UAB School of Medicine.