If you are suffering from a serious illness, palliative care may be appropriate to relieve suffering and make you more comfortable. Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s Palliative Care Program is an interdisciplinary team-based approach, focused on comfort for the patient and his/her family.

Our goals are collaborative and simple:

• To help you get more comfortable.
• To help you define and reach your goals, such as walking without severe pain or living to see your next birthday or regaining your quality of life.
• To communicate thoroughly with you, your family and your many caregivers in the hospital.
• To support your family during your stay in the hospital.

Our Golden Rule is to give you the type of care we would want for ourselves and our families.  You have a right to have the best quality and most humane care possible. 

Why Does Palliative Care work?
Palliative Care works because we focus on the causes and treatment of your physical, emotional, and spiritual pain.  Some examples are:

• Physical pain: discomfort such as pain, breathing difficulty and nausea.
• Emotional pain: anxiety, fear, grief and/or depression.
• Spiritual pain: feelings of grief, doubt, hopelessness or a crisis in your faith.

We all cope with these life problems differently, but we all benefit by receiving the support of others.  By focusing on your concerns and assisting you to become more comfortable, you will be able to cope with your illness.  When you are more comfortable, you can think more clearly and decide on your goals.

Is palliative care the same as Hospice?
No, Palliative Care helps many people who will live for a long time after they leave the hospital.  Palliative care grew from the Hospice idea that people and their families need support from a team when they have a life-threatening illness.  Hospice care focuses on a person in the last part of their life.

Is palliative care available outside of the hospital setting?
Yes. After being discharged from Cooley Dickinson Hospital, palliative care services are available from the VNA & Hospice of Cooley Dickinson. For more information, call (413) 584-1060.

The Palliative Care Team: Who are we?
We are a team that supports patients and families through hard times.  A physician, nurse, chaplain, social worker, occupational therapist, physical therapist or other specialists may care for you, depending on your needs. The team leader is Dr. Jeff Zesiger. Medical Director, Palliative Care.

Dr. Jeff Zesiger, Medical Director

Dr. Zesiger is board certified in Internal Medicine and Palliative Care.  He received his medical degree from the University of Vermont in 1983 and did his residency at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA.  He is the medical director of Hospice of Cooley Dickinson.