Maryland-based Montgomery Hospice is partnering with hospital system MedStar Health to integrate and expand advanced illness care services at the system’s Montgomery Medical Center. The partnership will include inpatient hospice and palliative care.
The program, based in the hospital, will combine specialist palliative care clinicians with an interdisciplinary team of other health care providers with a focus on improving the quality of life for patients and families. Patients who need this care will receive pain and symptom management, therapeutic support and comfort care to help them return home. These services are designed to be short-term during medical crises.
“Along the continuum of care, MedStar Montgomery Medical Center strives to always provide high-quality, compassionate and personalized care and support to patients and their families. This is immensely important for those with life-limiting illnesses or at end-of-life,” said Thomas J. Senker, president of MedStar Montgomery Medical Center and senior vice president of MedStar Health. “Our collaboration with Montgomery Hospice bolsters our current ability to care for an individual’s complex and unique needs in a way that honors their dignity and wishes.”
The new partnership with Montgomery Hospice, Inc. is designed to enhance the hospital’s current inpatient hospice and palliative care program offered in collaboration with community-based organization Jewish Social Services Agency. In October 2019, MedStar Montgomery announced the addition of hospital-based hospice care to its service lines.
Key to the program, Montgomery Hospice will offer multi-cultural resources focused on cultural empathy and competency — honoring all beliefs regarding serious illness and the end of life, and adapting to the unique needs of the various communities served. Emotional and spiritual support is provided by licensed therapists and chaplains.
“The foundation of Montgomery Hospice is skilled, unconditionally compassionate, and culturally responsive care for those with advanced life-limiting illness — a shared value of MedStar Montgomery. As the first licensed hospice facility in Maryland, we understand the importance and responsibility of creating a caring and dignified environment for individuals and honoring them during the most intensive and challenging moments at the end of their lives,” said Ann Mitchell, president and CEO of Montgomery Hospice, Inc. “We’re proud to combine the legacies to community service of MedStar Montgomery and Montgomery Hospice to provide our neighbors with the compassionate and quality care they deserve.”
Companies featured in this article:
MedStar Health, MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, Montgomery Hospice
