DOH Launches Center for Hospice and Palliative Care
(Aug. 20, 2024) On Aug. 19th, the Department of Health (DOH) announced the new Center for Hospice and Palliative Care, which will be under the Department's Office of Aging and Long-Term Care (OALTC). The new Center will be led by Kara Travis, a health care executive who most recently served as president and CEO of Mountain Valley Hospice and Palliative Care in Gloversville, NY.
The Center will focus on removing barriers to palliative and hospice services and ensuring access, education, and awareness of these services to health professionals, families, caregivers, and individuals.
The Center and Ms. Travis have been entrusted with a number of ambitious goals: develop and implement a robust workplan focused on increased utilization of end-of-life care; employ data and research to develop model practices; and provide stakeholder education and training to support and encourage advance care planning and high-quality end-of-life services throughout the state.
The State’s press release states that "over the next year, the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care will also be working with stakeholders, including health care professionals and others, to mount a public education campaign promoting the understanding and importance of end of life care and the critical need for advance care planning. The Department also has a number of resources that explain the advance care planning process and the importance of making those plans, which can be found here."
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871