One of the last and most significant grants from the Community Foundation’s Mid-South COVID-19 Regional Response Fund was a million-dollar investment in creating a palliative care program at Regional One Health. Palliative care is a newer specialty that many aren’t familiar with. It’s not hospice, but rather a way of humanizing and supporting people with life-limiting illnesses or accidents.
While some of their diagnoses may be terminal, the program is not just about making people comfortable toward the end of their lives. It's more about helping them adjust to their new life situations. Dr. Jeffrey Nelson, an assistant professor who teaches palliative care to medical students at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, is heading up the program. At this time, the Palliative Care Program is targeted at patients who are currently hospitalized at Regional One, but in time, the plan is to expand the program into the community and offer the services to people receiving treatment for cancer.