Palliative care seeks to optimize quality of life and relieve physical and emotional suffering through pain management, comfort care, and spiritual support. Unlike hospice, palliative care can be provided simultaneously with curative measures.

There has been a shortage of palliative care services in public hospitals, despite serving a large percentage of uninsured and medically indigent patients with advanced chronic illness and complex care needs.

In 2008 CHCF launched Spreading Palliative Care in Public Hospitals, a $3.2-million, four-year project to introduce or expand palliative care in California's 17 acute care public hospitals. During Phase I, planning, implementation, and expansion grants were awarded to 13 facilities. These grants helped to implement interdisciplinary palliative care consult services where none existed and to expand existing palliative care programs to new areas.

During Phase II, which spans April 2011 to December 2013, four additional public hospitals received implementation grants and will focus on developing new palliative care services and participating in the project's Learning Community and evaluation.

The project has been a success — stimulating new programs in eight facilities and expanding existing ones in four others. It has also made significant progress toward several additional goals, which will continue throughout Phase II:

• Providing models for culturally sensitive palliative care services
• Increasing access to palliative care for California's racial and ethnic minorities
• Creating a uniform data collection tool
• Developing a business case specific to public hospital finances to assist with sustainability

Language Interpretation

During the project it has become apparent that health care language interpreters needed educational training and support to become effective interpreters for palliative care consultative services. By the end of 2011, California's public hospitals will have access to a new training curriculum for health care interpreters in palliative care — part of the CHCF Preparing Health Care Interpreters in Palliative Care project.

Grants Awarded to Public Hospitals

Planning grants were awarded in 2008 to:

1. Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
2. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
3. Kern Medical Center
4. Olive View Medical Center
5. Riverside Regional Medical Center
6. San Mateo Medical Center
7. UC Davis Medical Center
8. UC San Diego Hillcrest Medical Center

Implementation grants were awarded in 2008 and 2009 to:

1. Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
2. Contra Costa Regional Medical Center
3. Olive View Medical Center
4. Riverside Regional Medical Center
5. San Francisco General Hospital
6. San Mateo Medical Center
7. UC Davis Medical Center
8. UC San Diego Hillcrest Medical Center

Expansion grants were awarded in 2008 and 2009 to:

1. Alameda County Medical Center
2. LAC+USC Medical Center
3. Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
4. UC Irvine Medical Center

Implementation grants were awarded in 2011 to:

1. Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
2. San Joaquin General Hospital
3. Natividad Medical Center
4. Ventura County Medical Center

More information can be found through the links below.