Gifford doctors certified in end-of-life care
RANDOLPH 3/30/07 – RANDOLPH – Gifford Medical Center’s commitment to end-of-life care is now enhanced thanks to the efforts of two doctors, who have received special board certification.
Drs. David Pattison and Jonna Goulding, who serve as Gifford’s Advanced Illness Care Team co-chairs, are now both certified by The American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Fewer than 2,700 doctors in the United States and Canada are palliative care certified. And now two of them are at Gifford.
Eligibility requirements for certification are significant. In order to take the exam, applicants must have received prior major specialty certification, practiced at least two years following residency, worked as a member of an interdisciplinary team for at least two years and have directly participated in the active care of at least 50 terminally ill patients in the preceding three years.
The certification additionally means both Drs. Pattison and Goulding passed the rigorous exam requiring high standards of training and advanced knowledge – not just in medicine but the social supports needed for terminally ill patients and their families.
Dr. Pattison of Brookfield has worked at Gifford since 1995 and was already dual board certified in internal medicine and pediatrics – an achievement on its own. Dr. Goulding of Sharon joined Gifford in 1996. She is a board certified family physician.
“Being board certified in palliative care I believe will increase patients’ sense of confidence in receiving end-of-life care through Gifford’s multidisciplinary approach,” Dr. Pattison says.
In addition to Dr. Goulding and Pattison’s personal efforts to receive certification, Gifford has made a tremendous commitment to end-of-life care. The hospital’s Advanced Illness Care Team, comprised of doctors, nurses, a social worker, a physical therapist, a chaplain and more, is dedicated to providing patients a dignified end. That means listening carefully to patients’ wishes and spiritual needs through the help of 20 dedicated volunteer chaplains, pain management, home doctors’ visits in some cases and stays in Gifford’s Garden Room in other instances.
The Garden Room, a garden-side suite, includes a family room and bereavement packet to help families and patients begin grieving and making end-of-life plans and decisions. “We’re looking to make the dying process as comfortable as possible and to relieve as much suffering as possible for the patient and family,” says Dr. Pattison.
A motorcycle ride in the fall, the Last Mile ride, raised money for end-of-life care at Gifford and has meant patients can receive alternative therapies, like massage, that insurances don’t cover. The ride is planned again for this September and a hospice singing group is just now forming to perform at the bedsides of the terminally ill throughout the region.