Reducing pain and stress during treatment for heart and vascular conditions

Need to Find a Doctor?

Choose an expert who is part of our Palliative Care Program.

Palliative care is a specialty of medicine that focuses on providing relief from symptoms and stress for patients with serious illnesses. Patients can receive palliative care at any stage of illness, including along with curative treatment.

MedStar Health offers palliative care services at multiple sites across our health system. Each palliative care plan respects an individual’s hopes, beliefs, values and traditions, and puts an emphasis on improving quality of life for patients and their families. Palliative care services can include:

  • Pain and symptom management
  • Guidance with difficult treatment decisions
  • Emotional and spiritual support
  • Assistance with planning for care after hospital discharge

Our palliative care team members take a holistic approach to care aimed at healing the mind, body and spirit, while working hand-in-hand with patients’ other medical specialists. The team includes specialists from a range of fields, including:

  • Doctors
  • Nurses
  • Pharmacists
  • Social workers
  • Chaplains

Hunter Groninger, MD, program director, and Anne Kelemen, social worker

Palliative care often is confused with hospice care, which is designed for patients who only have a short time to live and are no longer receiving curative treatment. Palliative care is available at any stage of a serious illness and takes a holistic approach to care for the body, mind and spirit.

For information about palliative care services near you, please call:

Palliative care for advanced heart failure

MedStar Health palliative care teams partner with experts in our Advanced Heart Failure Program to support patients with advanced heart failure and their families. The palliative care team helps determine goals for care, finds ways to manage symptoms and implements comfort measures throughout treatment.

Read more: Palliative Care and Heart Failure Team Partnership Flourishes

Fully integrating a palliative care team into the care of patients with chronic or life-threatening conditions is rare, but our teams are working to change this culture. Our palliative specialists often are brought into the process of developing care plans from the onset—for example, when a patient is being considered to receive a ventricular assist device (VAD).

Learn more: What to expect from palliative care for advanced heart failure

Advanced Heart Failure Program

Partner with leaders in the field to manage and treat your heart failure and help you maximize your quality of life.

Learn More