Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas

Relief of suffering in life-limiting illnesses

How you can help: Contact Deobrah Barker at 214-820-6144 or Deborah.Barker@BaylorHealth.edu, or submit your information online.

Palliative Care focuses on the relief of suffering for patients with advanced, life-limiting illnesses. Palliative care is not hospice. Patients can continue curative treatments while receiving palliative care, or palliative care may replace treatments that no longer benefit them.

In 2004, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas established a dedicated Palliative Care team. The result is a unique approach to end-of-life care, one that brings together the human resources needed to provide true quality of life for seriously ill patients and their families. The team is made up of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, nutritionists, social workers and chaplains. Together, they help relieve suffering so that patients can perform their life roles.

We have an ambitious vision for Palliative Care that includes:

• A dedicated, home-like palliative care unit in a single hospital
• An endowed directorship in Clinical Ethics and Palliative Care
• Funding for recruitment and training of Palliative Care physicians, fellows, nurses and chaplains
• An endowment for nursing leadership to support positions in Clinical Ethics, Palliative Care and Pain Management
• Funding for critical nursing services, spiritual care and complementary therapies
• Services for the dying poor