Supportive/Palliative Care

What is Supportive Care?

Supportive Care is a more comprehensive term that encompasses types of services to support patients who are undergoing a life ending illness, but are not yet at the point of needing Palliative Care or Hospice.

What are the goals of Supportive Care?

Supportive Care is an approach and highly structured system of coordinated services across the continuum of care, meeting the individualized needs of the patient and their loved ones facing chronic and/or terminal illness utilizing an interdisciplinary model of care.

What is Palliative Care?

Palliative Care is a program that provides supportive care services to patients while they are an in-patient within a hospital. Palliative Care is delivered to those whose disease is not responding to curative treatment and when control of pain and other symptoms addressing psychological, social and spiritual problems is the priority.

What are the goals of Palliative Care?

Palliative Care is an approach to improve the quality of life for patients and their families. Palliative Care addresses the physical, social, psychosocial and spiritual needs of patients and their families.

Improving the Quality of Life

The Supportive and Palliative Care programs at OSF St. Mary Medical Center will serve all persons facing chronic and/or terminal illness with the greatest dignity and respect by providing services in a coordinated, timely and compassionate manner in a community of caregivers committed to quality, safety and the value of life based on our Catholic tradition and ethics. This will allow us to better serve persons with the greatest care and love.

The Benefits of Supportive and Palliative Care

 

  • Better understanding of their disease and prognosis
  • Assistance with advanced care planning
  • Assistance defining future care needs and coordinating services
  • Improved control of pain and other symptoms

What is OSF Care Decisions?

OSF Care Decisions, or advance care planning, is a process for providing patients and their families with information about the normal course of their disease over time, initiating and encouraging discussions related to future medical care, choice of surrogate decision-maker treatment, and choices across the continuum of care.

What are the goals of OSF Care Decisions?

OSF Care Decisions goal is to address these issues before a crisis occurs. By having an advance care plan, the patient and family's wishes are clear and the healthcare team can honor them. OSF St. Mary Medical Center desires this process be comprehensive, up-to-date and standardized with OSF HealthCare so information can be shared across the continuum of care.

Contact Information

For more information on Supportive and Palliative Care Services at OSF St. Mary Medical Center please contact:

Joyce Juergens, RN
Director of Supportive Care
3333 N. Seminary Street
Galesburg, Illinois 61401
Phone: (309) 344-3161, x1134