Bayhealth Relocates and Expands Palliative Care Location

Delaware-based Bayhealth recently opened a new outpatient palliative care location to address the increasing need for those services within its service regions. The new Bayhealth Palliative Care office is located in Dover, Del.

The new center moved from a previous location in the city and will operate with an expanded clinical team.

One clinician and four nurse practitioners make up the palliative care center’s medical team, all of whom are accepting new patients. Through the location, Bayhealth provides a range of palliative care services that help patients that include pain and symptom relief, condition-specific caregiver and patient education and care options, as well as psychosocial support.

“We’re pleased to offer even more services with our Bayhealth Palliative Care practice and new location,” said Dina Perry, vice president of the Bayhealth Medical Group Physician Services, in an announcement. “Our skilled and empathetic providers are here and available to help individuals live better and more comfortably, despite the complexities of their condition, and to help families and caregivers in best supporting them.”

Bayhealth is a nonprofit health care system with a staff of roughly 4,000 and more than 400 physicians that serve central and southern regions of Delaware. The health system includes Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus and Bayhealth Hospital, Sussex Campus, a freestanding emergency department in Smyrna, among other facilities. Bayhealth is an affiliate of Penn Medicine for Heart and Vascular, Cancer and Orthopaedics.

In addition to palliative care, Bayhealth’s services include home health, emergency and pediatric care, therapies, and disease-specific specialty care, among others.

Bayhealth has been growing the scope of its outpatient palliative care services. The health system in 2016 launched its first inpatient palliative care program for hospitalized patients. This later expanded to include outpatient services.

“We know palliative care is fulfilling an important need in our community for those suffering from serious illnesses, such as cancer, congestive heart failure, COPD, or kidney failure, among many others,” said Perry.

Demand for palliative care is swelling in Delaware. An estimated 28.4% of the state’s population will be 60 or older by 2030, up 41% from 2012, according to U.S. Census Bureau projections.

The aging population is among the factors leading to a growing chronic disease burden in Delaware, according to a 2019 PubMed study. The research found that cancer and heart disease accounted for nearly half (46%) of deaths statewide during 2016, with chronic lower respiratory disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s and kidney disease among the other leading causes.

Efficient management of existing chronic disease cases is critical, researchers indicated.