Palliative Care

St. Mary Medical Center’s Palliative Care program offers pain control and relief from discomfort. The program is available for any patient. Palliative services help patients enjoy a better quality of life, especially for individuals living with life-threatening illnesses. In keeping with the hospital's mission to improve the health of our community, the program embraces the patient and family as a unit and recognizes cultural, ethnic, and spiritual differences.

Palliative Care refers to the specialized approach toward improving the quality of life for patients with serious illness, as well as addressing the concerns of their families. The goal is to provide symptomatic and emotional support to patients suffering from a potentially life-threatening illness by ensuring their comfort and dignity.

Our treatment approach focuses on the person, not just a specific disease, by offering comprehensive management of the physical, psychological, social and spiritual factors of a patient’s illness. The goal is to improve the patient’s comfort and quality of life.  

Palliative Care differs from hospice care in that the patient can continue to receive appropriate, active, curative treatment and need not have a life expectancy of six months or less. The Palliative Care team provides skilled, compassionate care while the patient is hospitalized, and ensures the best discharge plan to meet the needs of this unique patient and their family. The team's aim is to relieve suffering and improve quality of life during any state of a life-threatening illness, from diagnosis through the end of life and bereavement.

Learn more about Palliative Care at St. Mary Medical Center

For more information, please call (562) 491-9168. To find a physician, please call (562) 491-4895 or use our search tool to Find a Doctor.