On Sept. 21, Stamford Health announced the relaunch of an enhanced palliative care program, with services being offered to all patients in the Carl & Dorothy Bennett Cancer Center. This new program expands on the current palliative care offerings for Stamford Hospital inpatients. The program was funded in part by the Kanarek Family Foundation and Robin Bennett Kanarek, who authored the book “Living Well with a Serious Illness: A Guide to Palliative Care for Mind, Body and Spirit.” The donation helped build a palliative care consultation room in the Bennett Cancer Center and is being used to fund education for Stamford Health care partners.
Under the leadership of Sherry Ng, M.D., medical director of Palliative Care at Stamford Health, a dedicated team of physicians and nurse practitioners with more than 20 years of experience provides pain and symptom management, and support to patients with any stage of serious illness to help improve their well-being during treatment and recovery.
Palliative care is specialized care appropriate for patients with any form of serious illness or injury, including cancer survivors coping with remaining symptoms or pain. The Stamford Health Palliative Care Program offers a wide variety of supportive care services to patients of the Bennett Cancer Center, including symptom relief, advanced care planning and in-depth communication about care goals. One important aspect of the program is spiritual care, which pays special attention to the emotional experiences of patients and families.
Stamford Health is a major teaching affiliate of the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and has recently expanded its relationship with Columbia to offer treatment and expertise from Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s nationally recognized heart surgeons. Stamford Health and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) have created a premier center for specialty orthopedic care in Stamford. Additionally, in 2020 Stamford Health’s Carl & Dorothy Bennett Cancer Center entered into an expanded collaboration with Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center.
