Circle of Life Award Winner Palliative Care Western Connecticut Health Network

Fueled by the enthusiasm of its CEO and palliative care leaders, a small network of Connecticut community hospitals rapidly trained its hospital physicians and nurses in primary palliative care techniques. Western Connecticut Health Network spread palliative care throughout its continuum of care, from inpatient units to primary care offices, demonstrating that community hospitals can provide sophisticated care to seriously ill patients and their families. The system is now poised to use its expertise in caring for seriously ill patients to strengthen a forward-looking population health strategy.

Over less than a decade, Western Connecticut’s palliative care program has grown from a small team at Danbury Hospital to reaching patients across the system’s continuum of care, including home care, nursing home, cancer center outpatient, and in the offices of primary care physicians and pulmonologists.

The rapid growth and spread of the concept has been encouraged by the organization’s supportive leadership and efforts to educate staff and clinicians on the essentials of palliative care, said Damanjeet Chaubey, MD, a Danbury Hospital hospitalist and medical director for palliative care. It also helps that the network cultivates an atmosphere in which bedside nurses feel empowered to call for a palliative care consult if it’s appropriate, she said.

Karen Mulvihill, DNP
Network Director Palliative Care
Palliative Care Western Connecticut Health Network
24 Hospital Avenue
Danbury, CT, 6776
(203) 885-6267